GROWING COMMUNITY WEDNESDAY JOURNAL, INC.
ForestParkReview.com
Vol. 101, No. 12
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F O R E S T PA R K
REVIEW
Who won?
2018
See election results at ForestParkReview.com
Big video gaming vote coming in November PAGE 8
MARCH 21, 2018
@FP_Review @ForestParkReview
He came back: A new life for a homeless heroin user Forest Parker helps rehabilitate a man addicted to drugs By TOM HOLMES
F
Contributing Reporter
our years ago, Chris Ross weighed 70 pounds and was living in a rat-infested abandoned building in Maywood, where he used heroin and crack cocaine and panhandled and stole to support his addiction. Then, he met Forest Park resident John Netherly and his life began to turn around. As Ross tells the story, he was panhandling one day in his hometown of Melrose Park when Netherly saw him and asked if he was homeless. When he answered yes, Netherly told him that he’d be back in 20 minutes. “People would tell me that all the time when I was panhandling,” Ross said. “But John came back. He gave me food and $25.” And so began a long-term relationship in which Netherly functioned as, in Ross’s words, a guardian angel. Netherly runs the nonprofit Bedrock Movement, a one-man movement to help people without a home. Netherly doesn’t romanticize his early relationship with Ross. “Chris was a dangerous, homeless, heroin addict, and drug dealer. He was on his way to death,” he said. “But the Bedrock Movement continued to serve him through thick and thin.” See ROSS on page 8
Submitted pHoto
ADVOCATE: From living on the streets to crafting policy on Capitol Hill, Marian Hatcher has come a long way in her fight against sex trafficking.
A second chapter for mother and son
From drugs to inspiration, Marian Hatcher and Maui Jones have a story to tell By NONA TEPPER Staff Reporter
The last time Maui Jones saw his mother he had a gun to his head.
A good neighbor has your back.
Jones, then-18 and living in River Forest, came downstairs to ask his mom for a ride to his first acting gig. When he reached the basement, he saw his mom, Marian Hatcher, hopped up on drugs. His stepdad put a
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gun to his head and told him: “Don’t you come back to this house. If you ever come back, I’ll kill you.” See HATCHER on page 8
Meaghan Good, Agent 7601 Madison Street Forest Park, IL 60130 Bus: 708-366-3779 meaghan.good.w32j@statefarm.com