Sometimes people need a second chance. Last House on the Block exists to give those who have lost their way due to alcoholism or drug addiction that fresh start, board member Steve Tamboli told the Columbus Rotary Club Tuesday afternoon.

Last House on the Block was founded about a decade ago as a faith-based rehabilitation program for people who have struggled with substance abuse.
Since then it has moved from a rented house to a location at 206 Tuscaloosa Road with three buildings that serve about 25 men. A location on Jolly Road serves about eight to 10 women.

“Some people just don’t feel they’re worthy of what God has to offer them and what we have to offer them,” he said. Without a program like Last House on the Block, they “would die needlessly on the streets.”

Demand for services has remained more or less the same since the pandemic started, Tamboli said.

“Demand hasn’t changed,” he said. “The pandemic really did not affect our program at all. We did not see any kind of spike or decline whatsoever.”

Tamboli estimated that 85 percent of participants come from treatment centers, but some do come from jail. Those who come from the correctional system may not have any kind of violent crime on their record, and all participants are screened and interviewed before being accepted.

“We give them a sober, safe living environment when they come out of treatment or jail,” he said. “We introduce them to Christ, and we encourage them to become productive members of society. Our main objective is to see these men get back into the community.”

It’s inspiring to see the change wrought in the often-desperate people who come through the program’s doors, Tamboli said.

“We show them there is a different way of life, and we start to see the lights come on,” he said. “We start to see people raise their heads when they talk. They’re not looking at their feet the whole time anymore. They are having face-to-face conversations again.”

Men who enter the program begin in the “house in the front” — the one facing Tuscaloosa Road, he explained. They undergo intense counseling and are required to attend both Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and church. When they are ready, they move to the second house where they are given more privileges.

“They get more responsibility, too,” Tamboli said. “They start paying for their own meals. They start cooking for themselves. They have a little more freedom to start getting into society.”

A third house was built for long-term residents, he said.

“We have some men who are on disability and may have no place to go,” he said. “They can go there.”

Now the program is looking to expand a fourth time, Tamboli said.

“Some land right behind the land we already own opened up, and we were blessed to get it,” he said. “We’re in the process now of praying for funds to open this building up for an activity center.”

Plans call for a 5,000-square-foot building, he said.

“We run out of room when we have speakers come in or when we do seminars,” he said. “… We’re excited to build this other house. We’re excited to see where (the funding) is going to come from.”

Tamboli asked for donations, especially of furniture and clothing.

“If you go drop a bag of clothes off and go hide and watch, it’ll look like a swarm of bees coming out of there,” he said. “The sweetest and most compassionate gift is to drop by and talk to them. Get to know them. Ask them questions about their life.”