Frank Bellanger’s pursuit of money, power, and prestige has come at a cost to people in addiction recovery who enter his care. The Starfish Recovery & Wellness CEO touts his Richmond-based organization as a “world class residential rehabilitation program.” But outside the public eye, records and firsthand accounts indicate that image is more facade than reality.
Legitimized by state certification through the Virginia Association of Recovery Residences (VARR), Starfish promised a safe and healthy environment to support people on their recovery journey. Instead, former residents and employees say they became casualties of the CEO’s chaos – degraded, silenced and discarded according to Bellanger’s whims.
(Screenshot from a Starfish promotional video; background blurred for privacy.)
Almost everyone I interviewed about their experience with Starfish spoke under the condition of anonymity, with many expressing fear of retaliation. As one former resident put it: “I’m absolutely terrified about using my name and Frank coming after me.”
Because of this, the common thread in their stories will mostly be illustrated through a paper trail of Bellanger’s own words.
The ‘derelicts, nuts and bums’ of Starfish Recovery & Wellness
The following text message snippets reveal attitudes and beliefs behind Bellanger’s approach toward residents. He often described them using dehumanizing language in conversations with staff and house leaders – many of whom were still residents themselves and part of the Starfish community.
Many people recovering from addiction struggle with overlapping mental health challenges. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance use disorders frequently coincide with bipolar disorder, depression, psychotic illness and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among other conditions.
Given this overlap, any recovery residence operator can expect to serve individuals with a range of mental health needs. As of April 2023, the Starfish website explicitly stated that the organization accepts clients with co-occurring disorders.
Despite this, Starfish group chats show Bellanger often expressed low tolerance toward residents displaying signs of trauma or mental illness.
The language and attitudes captured in these messages were not just expressions. Former residents and staff say they often shaped how residents were treated, including decisions about who could remain in the program and who would be discharged.
Starfish evictions and weaponized reporting
As of July 2022, people living in Virginia certified recovery homes no longer have tenant rights. That means operators like Frank and Stephanie Bellanger, the husband-and-wife team behind Starfish Recovery & Wellness, now have broad authority to evict at will.
But former residents reported – and roughly a year’s worth of internal messages suggests – that the Bellangers took particular pride in the paper trail they generated prior to evicting (or “discharging”) residents.
Former staff and house leaders reported that Frank and Stephanie often weaponized that reporting, stacking excessive write-ups against residents they wanted to “get rid of.” Text messages authored by Frank provide additional support for those claims.
Write-ups were also used to accelerate the discharge of residents who fell behind on their bed fees.
By contrast, residents who arrived at Starfish with money were often treated more leniently.
The next day:
Meanwhile, former residents and staff say the instability they experienced in policies and enforcement was mirrored in the daily atmosphere at Starfish, which was shaped largely by Frank’s unpredictable temper.
Frank Bellanger’s volatile leadership
Many, if not most, people living in recovery housing are in their first year of sobriety – the most vulnerable period when the risk of relapse is high.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA):
The first 12 months … is a crucial period during which people contend with raw core clinical issues such as family history, unresolved trauma, grief and loss, emotional immaturity, low frustration tolerance, and other factors that make them susceptible to relapse.
In theory, a recovery residence mitigates that risk by providing a stable and supportive environment for people to navigate this difficult period. Conversely, an unhealthy environment can increase the risk of relapse. As Ohio recovery residence professional Ron Luce wrote: “[We] must be consistently aware that we have the potential to harm people as well if we do not do our jobs effectively.”
Former residents and staff described the environment at Starfish Recovery & Wellness as far from stable, shifting with rapid swings in Frank’s mood. They say he vacillated between motivational hype and shameless rage, which often sprung from minor threats to his ego, brand or wallet.
On any given day, residents or employees could find themselves the targets of that anger.
At the same time, Frank showed little tolerance for residents in early recovery who were navigating their own emotional impulses.
Frank’s interaction with staff and residents was also complicated by its cyclical nature. Periods of berating were interrupted by intermittent praise or encouragement — a rhythm that mirrored the cycle of abuse seen in intimate relationships. The following sample of text messages shows this dynamic play out with staff and house leaders over the course of roughly one month.
In another exchange, Frank berated a house leader for asking whether Starfish Education & Curriculum Officer Evelyn Swift was Stephanie’s sister. (She is.)
Frank and Stephanie advertise Starfish Recovery & Wellness as a “family atmosphere” that promotes “healthy behaviors” and helps people “rewrite” the negative stories they previously internalized:
Last August, Frank lashed out at a group of staff and residents during a program-wide meeting after someone commented on the money he was making. Taylor, a former resident in the early stages of her recovery, secretly recorded portions of the outburst:
During that meeting, another resident responded to a staff member who noticed she had disappeared:
A source who requested anonymity shared the conversation she had with Taylor just after the incident:
Taylor arrived at Starfish Recovery & Wellness in April 2022. She worked hard to support herself, connect with her peers and keep up with program requirements.
At Starfish, she was known for her sweet tooth and thoughtfulness, often bringing treats home from work to share with her housemates.
Taylor developed close relationships with several of her peers at Starfish, but text messages indicate she was also under chronic stress there. Working at a doughnut shop, she was barely making enough to cover food, transportation and rent. She was falling behind on the $185 weekly bed fee, which kept accumulating late fees.
Taylor’s last several weeks at Starfish were especially stressful. Text messages from mid-July to mid-August show that Taylor and at least two of her housemates were feeling bullied by one of their house leaders. During that time, she received a series of reprimands for minor infractions, such as not cleaning her room and leaving clothes in common areas.
She was growing demoralized by her experience with leadership and began vocalizing her frustration with Frank.
In late August, Taylor’s best friend, Sarah Mongiovi, stepped in to advocate for her after listening to Frank’s recorded outburst. “I understand some people in recovery need tough love,” Mongiovi told me. “That’s not tough love. That’s absolutely unacceptable to speak to a bunch of recovering addicts that way. They already have trauma in their lives.”
Mongiovi said she contacted “the board that funds and licenses [Starfish] to be a recovery home,” which is VARR,1 and recalled speaking with someone named David. (David Rook was a VARR board member and the recent past president.)
According to Mongiovi, she told David she wanted to make a formal complaint, sent him the video recordings, and demanded that Taylor be transferred to a different recovery home. She recalled telling him, “[Taylor] cannot survive this way. She’s going to relapse.”
Shortly after I published this article, VARR Executive Director Anthony Grimes responded to my request for confirmation that VARR had received Mongiovi’s complaint and the recordings of Frank screaming at Starfish residents. Grimes wrote, “The VARR office can confirm we have never been sent or received the recordings you referenced.” He did not respond when asked whether anyone on the VARR board received the recordings or whether any VARR representative received Mongiovi’s complaint.
According to Mongiovi, she made her complaint the day before Taylor was discharged from Starfish.
Mary Seifert, the former program director, told me that Taylor was falling short of expectations at Starfish. But in retrospect, she said, “The problem was that Taylor would speak on things she didn’t feel were right.”
She added: “If Frank or Stephanie find out someone wants to leave, they would put them out first.”
Below is Taylor’s exchange with her housemates on the day she left.
According to Seifert, when Frank and Stephanie Bellanger were done with someone, they demanded everyone else at Starfish Recovery & Wellness be done with that person too. She said the Bellangers banned residents and staff from communicating with anyone they evicted, regardless of the reason for the dismissal.
When Taylor was discharged from Starfish, she was abruptly outcast from the community she had built there.
Like many of her peers at Starfish, Taylor was in her first year of recovery – the vulnerable phase when social support is most critical.
Ostracized from the people she leaned on during the previous four months, Taylor had to start over at a new recovery home.
Ten days later, she died from an overdose.
Taylor’s mother put her thoughts on paper after viewing police dash cam footage from the morning her daughter’s body was found. She wrote:
I received three redacted videos of the body cam footage from the Henrico County Police Department. One was a little over 17 minutes, the other a little over 13 minutes and the last was less than 2 minutes. I also received audio of the 911 call. I’m not implying any negligence or criminal activity with my comments. This is just a summary of what I saw of the last few minutes of my daughter’s life. I know and accept that there is more to every story.
Both videos started as the Officer exited their vehicle. Upon entering the house, there was obvious chaos. The Fire Department/EMS were already there. Residents were walking all around inside the two-story house. Some seemed unaffected, while others appeared to be traumatized. Neither Officer was greeted by an official representative of the house when they arrived. Both Officers went upstairs and entered the bedroom that was shared by multiple residents. The video was redacted (blurred) by the police, but Taylor was sprawled out on the bedroom floor while EMS was attempting to revive her. There was a lot of activity, and it was mentioned that she was found in the bathroom by a roommate and a needle and pill bottle were found by her body. There was quite a bit of conversation around finding a “Sharps” container for any needles. In the background, you hear that EMS have a doctor on the phone, and 3 am was mentioned. I cannot figure out the relevance of that time, and it is not in any of the documentation I have from the Police or Medical Examiner.
The Officers encountered residents milling about upstairs and down. Each are asked if they knew Taylor and most say no, that she had only been there a short amount of time. One resident said that she knew Taylor from the first time she was at the house, but for some reason she was not interviewed any further on camera.
The roommate that found Taylor was an older lady staying at the house. She told the Officer that her alarm woke her up, and she heard the water running in the attached bathroom. She saw that Taylor was not in her bed. She got up and went outside to smoke a cigarette. When she came back into the room, the water was still running. She knocked on the door and when there was no response, she entered. The toilet in the bathroom was in its own small room within the bathroom. Taylor was face down on the floor in this small area. She had been sitting on the toilet and collapsed forward with her legs wrapping around the base of the toilet. In the 911 call, this roommate (the one that found her), told the Operator that they were working on trying to get her out of that room. She told the operator that she put her hand on Taylor’s back, and she was not breathing and didn’t seem to have a pulse. The Fire Department was within walking distance to the house, so they responded within a few minutes and can be heard on the 911 call arriving. I have no video or documentation on how Taylor ended up on the bedroom floor. During this interview, the house manager appeared on camera and was finally able to provide Taylor’s last name and birthdate, but she had no emergency contact information. She did tell the Officer where Taylor worked. The House Manager had been on the phone up to this point in the videos in the background. One thing that was apparent in these videos was that Taylor’s information was not readily available which was surprising and heartbreaking. It was like they had found a complete stranger. Granted, she had only been there a short time, but if someone was residing under your roof, wouldn’t you know their basic information or have it readily available? Maybe it was and just not shown on video? I have no way of knowing what happened at that moment except for the videos.
In one of the videos, the Officer went downstairs to speak to a Fire/EMS Officer in the kitchen and a Fire/EMS Officer was talking to the residents, which at this point appeared to finally all be gathered in the family room portion of the kitchen/family room combo. Up to this point in the videos, it appeared that no one had control of the scene because people were all over the place, up and down the stairs, and in and out of rooms. In the background, you can hear the Fire/EMS officer tell them that there was nothing they could have done, and that her jaw had already started to ‘set’.
Upstairs, as Fire/EMS cleaned up the scene in the bedroom, you can see that Taylor was still sprawled out on the floor, uncovered. When the last EMS person left, the Officer tells him to close the door. The Officer can be seen walking around the room just looking at the tables, dressers, and beds of the residents of that room. He was careful not to touch any of the belongings on camera. All the while, Taylor was just laying there, arms outstretched in shorts, socks and a bra, dead. At one point, the officer looked into a mirror and adjusts or scratches himself. They had blurred his hand in the video. It was just another day at work. Just another overdose.
The camera was then turned off.
Those are the last images I have of my daughter. I have no idea of the timespan between when the camera was cut off and when another person came into the room.
During all of this, I was approximately 4.9 miles away.
911 call 6:47 am
Pronounced dead at 7:04 am
I was contacted by the sober house at approx. 8:40 am
Cause of death: Multi-drug (heroin, fentanyl, buprenorphine). Investigation: Closed
Several days after Taylor’s death…I’ve lost track of time at this point; I drove down Parham Rd one last time on her behalf to pick up her belongings at the headquarters of the sober house. There were a few small boxes, but most of it was randomly stuffed into trash bags.
A once promising life crammed into cheap trash bags.
Below are reactions from two of Taylor’s former Starfish housemates on the day she died.
An excerpt from Taylor’s obituary, written by her aunt:
[Taylor] made others—even those she didn’t know long or well—feel comfortable, heard, and understood. She had a strong sense of justice and often took up the cause of those she felt were unfairly treated and protected those she considered vulnerable, even at personal cost to herself. … She touched so many lives throughout hers, and she is boundlessly loved.
Not long before Taylor’s death, Mongiovi had already lost her sister to an overdose. Reflecting on both losses, she said, “I’m just so unbelievably angry with all these recovery houses, because I believe that if they were doing their job, I would still have my sister and I would still have my best friend here.”
Controlling the Starfish narrative
Brand management at Starfish Recovery & Wellness appears to have helped keep unethical practices hidden from public view.
Frank and Stephanie have been offering small rewards to individuals who boost their public image, while threatening significant consequences for those who might damage it.
In exchange for 5-star Google reviews, they’ve been distributing gift cards.
At the same time, house leaders and staff have been preemptively silenced by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that effectively prevents them from ever revealing how the Bellangers operate.
Two former members of the leadership team provided identical copies of the Starfish NDA. Key provisions are below.
This NDA contains several issues that could render it unenforceable. For example:
- Mutual obligation: An NDA is a contract. At its most basic, a valid contract requires obligations from both parties.2 But as written, the Starfish NDA imposes a one-sided commitment.
- Scope and public policy: Virginia courts have established that a contract restricting post-employment activities will only be enforced if it is “narrowly drawn to protect the employer’s legitimate business interest” and “is not against sound public policy.”3 The Starfish NDA broadly covers all communication, regardless of whether it is proprietary or related to the business at all. The NDA also conflicts with a growing body of public policies that protect workers who speak on issues such as sexual harassment and working conditions.4
Regardless of whether an NDA has teeth, the threat of a lawsuit can have a chilling effect on workers who might otherwise speak up about unethical or illegal practices. As the National Whistleblower Center states: “Restrictive non-disclosure agreements are blatant attempts to censor employees and limit the exposure of company misconduct.”
The Starfish NDA also conflicts with the codes of ethics for both VARR and Virginia certified peer recovery specialists (CPRSs).
According to the VARR website, a CPRS works in every Starfish residence. The CPRS code of ethics requires peer professionals to “report violations of the Code of Ethics by other [CPRSs] to the appropriate certifying entity.” Yet any CPRS bound by the Starfish NDA would effectively be unable to report an ethical violation by another CPRS at Starfish – including Frank Bellanger, who received his CPRS credential in 2019.
The VARR Code of Ethics requires operators to:
- “[S]ustain transparency in operational and financial decisions;” and
- “Take appropriate action to stop retribution, intimidation, or any negative consequences that could occur as the result of a grievance or complaint.”
In contrast, the Starfish NDA sets a penalty of $100,000 per occurrence for making a prohibited “disclosure” — the broad scope of which would effectively turn most complaints into violations of the agreement.
According to the National Alliance of Recovery Residences (NARR) – VARR’s parent organization, which sets a national standard for recovery homes – the NARR standard “provides a level of assurance to operators, residents, granting agencies, and others that a home meets a certain threshold of professional reliability and accountability.”
On paper, VARR certifies Starfish recovery homes to this standard. Yet true accountability is hard to imagine when workers are bound by secrecy.
That tension might explain why the Bellangers forbade employees and house leaders from even disclosing the NDA’s existence:
(The full Starfish NDA is available here.)
The limits of oversight in certified recovery housing
Authors of the 2020 Henrico Recovery Roundtable Report wrote:
It remains to be seen whether the decision for DBHDS (the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services) to delegate much of its regulatory authority to VARR will resolve concerns about inconsistencies with recovery residences. Much will depend on the ability of DBHDS to verify and validate that accredited recovery residences provide a safe and healthy environment for their residents.
More than three years later, DBHDS does not verify or validate the safety or quality of certified recovery residences.
Residents and stakeholders of VARR-certified recovery homes have access to VARR’s formal grievance procedure, which purportedly holds operators accountable to “rigorous” ethical standards. But the only people overseeing this process are VARR board members – that is, recovery residence owners and operators, one of whom is Stephanie Bellanger.
This setup has created a self-policing system — and one that is far from transparent.
Information about incidents, grievances, and investigations related to certified recovery residences is hidden from the public and from DBHDS, the state agency that formally certifies VARR-accredited recovery homes.
VARR provides DBHDS with a combined monthly tally, but offers no detail:
Last week, DBHDS confirmed no changes have been made to this minimal reporting requirement — “yet.”
***
After publishing last month’s installment on coercive treatment practices, I received emails from Frank and Stephanie asking me to cease all contact with them. If they choose to reach out and provide comments on anything in this section, I will promptly add their responses to the article.
To share your experience with recovery housing, please reach out to me here.
A note on solutions
As I continue reporting on abuses of power in the recovery industry, I also plan to cover potential solutions. If you have ideas, expertise or direct involvement in addressing problems in this industry, please reach out to me.
More on Frank Bellanger and Starfish Recovery & Wellness:
May 2023
Corrections
1. The original version incorrectly cited April 2022 as the month residents of certified recovery homes lost tenant rights. While the related bill was enacted in April, it did not take effect until July 1, 2022.
2. In late 2024, I updated and re-uploaded dozens of images across the site to improve image quality. During this process, I mistakenly replaced Frank’s name with a redaction block labeled “House Leader” in a text message thread, which misattributed one line — “She has sever PTSD and was at Journey for 15 months” — to the house leader instead of Frank. The original version, published before this update, correctly showed Frank’s name, and the corrected version is now restored on the site. The overall context remains unchanged, and both the original (correct) and the later (incorrect) version are available for review here.
Scroll below to view investigative stories in The Parham Papers series, or visit the homepage to explore all articles, including legislative updates.
1. Mongiovi reported she could not remember the name of the organization she contacted or how she provided the video recording. She said she might have been using a device she no longer has access to. The only organization that funds and certifies Starfish to be a recovery home, as Mongiovi described, is VARR. [Return to article]
2. See the Legal Information Institute’s explanation of consideration in contracts. [Return to article]
3. See Lasership, Inc. v. Watson, 79 Va. Cir. 205 (2009). [Return to article]
4. See the Speak Out Act, VA. Code § 40.1-28.01, VA House Bill 1895, and employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act. [Return to article]
This is horrifying… these people are supposed to be trained professionals. And to learn that people have tried to go through the proper channels at VARR and make formal complaints but nothing is done? My heart aches for that little girl’s friends and family. On what planet is it considered “compassionate care” to exile a participant who is exited from a program in early recovery? I literally sobbed reading this.. these people are killing people. I hope Taylor’s family files a wrongful death suit against Starfish and VARR asap.
Guess what: he keeps doing it and police is aware of this situation, and nothing is being done. We need as a community help these poor young women and do something about it!!!
Frank…. You’re a sick sick man.
Good job VARR- keep on endorsing and supporting this piece of shit.
Don’t really know Frank personally, but heard what an A hole he is. He just a as he called that other person “BUM”. I can remember when there was no money in recovery housing and people did it for the right reasons. Frank just wants his slice of the pie.
I think we should all write bad google reviews because I’m not sure there’s too many folks outside the recovery community who will read this, it won’t come up when you google Starfish — I’m just trying to think of a way to keep another traumatized woman from ending up in the hands of these people.
This is a great ducking section you’ve written here. Keep up the good work. I’m glad someone is shining a light on these people finally. Hopefully it will get more oversight in our community. Quack quack.
Ah, Google review…what a great idea, thanks frank! I’ll pass on the gift card 😉
Frank, I don’t know how you go to sleep at night knowing how many lives you’re screwing up instead of saving! Reading the story about Taylor was absolutely heartbreaking! What a worthless POS he is for treating addicts like this at their most vulnerable time. Keep shining the light and exposing VARR and recovery housing! I agree we need to go to google so we can try to save others from going to these recovery houses. Prayer to those fighting the fight and to the family and friends to those we’ve lost 🙏🏼
I’ve written bad google reviews for Starfish and they disappear. Frank’s non-disclosure agreements would get thrown out of court without a second look. It’s unfortunate that copy/pasting from a Google search of NDAs has been enough to intimidate people into keeping silent. He won’t be able to Google his way out of a criminal trial so let’s hope this information is making it to the right people.
Frank Bellanger is the perfect example of a con man.
I realize the google reviews are beyond frustrating bc they can just flag the review and get it removed…. so I recommend looking at facebook reviews and flagging existing 5 star reviews as fraudulent so those will get removed as well!
This is beyond abusive. This guy needs a restraining order and charges filed. Also a forced drug screen [redacted]!
[Redacted]. Forreall though the man is the epitome of a little man exhibiting a napoleon complex. Frank and Stephanie have blood on their hands now… the question is how long will VARR continue to loose credibility by having Starfish on the board!? When a finger gets gangrene you cut off the finger instead of loosing the whole hand..
First of all, I am incredibly thankful for your work here. When I lived in almost every recovery house in rva a couple years ago, I almost immediately started talking to my few friends (other participants) about finding a journalist to tell our recovery house horror stories to bc they are plentiful. Secondly, my condolences to Taylor’s family and friends; I wept reading it. Thirdly, to Frank and Stephanie: [Redacted]. How dare you treat people this way, especially vulnerable people who PAID FOR your worthless help. Your worthless brand lmfao. I feel badly for anyone that ever had to deal with either of you for more than a minute, and I feel especially bad for your children. If this is how you treat others I cannot imagine what you’ve done to them. You both are the epitome of what’s wrong in the recovery world. [Redacted].
Coming from a recovering addict, I would first like to say, trying to blame anyone’s OD on another is a bit much. I’m sorry that this young lady lost her life but no one is at fault [redacted].
She could have reached out to her network she had built if she were allowed to communicate but I guess you missed that part that communications with exited clients were prohibited. If that girl could’ve been talked down by people she had built relationships with the result may not have been the same.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. But I can honestly say that Starfish, Frank and Stephanie helped me save my life. I personally know that a program that coddles me and doesn’t hold me accountable for my own responsibilities and recovery is one I would manipulate and walk all over. I stayed at starfish for well over the 6 month span and as with any RCO there are plenty of drama and problems. We need to remember that all of these programs are ran by people.
If you stayed at starfish for 6 months and love these people why are you anonymous?
My name is Kristina, not that it’s of any concern. Like I said opinions are like assholes everyone is obligated to one.
Please never say that ever
That’s not how you use that word……
I hope you got your Starbucks GC for writing that
Don’t use Frank.. Just do better.. A… A hole taught you wrong… (JS)
I can’t wait for river city employees such as Mr. [Redacted] to be exposed for his predatory behavior. I was personally victimized by that man in very early recovery.
To all the current and former residents of starfish recovery and WELLNESS (what a fucking joke)
You guys aren’t ducking dead weight or ducking derelicts. Keep your heads up and just ducking stay clean. Don’t let that mother fucker nail you.
There are plaques on the wall of one of the men’s recovery houses that supposedly honor other attendees who have fallen victim to fatal overdoses. They are CrossFit workout routines that have nothing to do with the deceased except for Frank having put their name at the top. He uses them to start conversations about working out. It’s tasteless and bizarre, to put it mildly.
I am thankful for the Starfish program it has changed my life and many others. I have watched people change their lives and find support in their recovery. Our CEO and staff really care about us. This is disgusting that many of you will even comment stuff [redacted]. What are you all doing for the recovery community? Are y’all out here working a program or out here relapsing. Starfish is helping the recovery community not trying bash folks on a blog site. This not even a legit source of news and the reporter a blogger
Screenshots from Frank seem legit
Are the recordings NOT of Frank screaming ant participants? Are the screenshots fake? What do you mean by “not a legit source of news” and “the reporter is a blogger” (she’s not btw)? I’m glad that you have had a positive experience and are staying in recovery. Your positive experience does not invalidate other people’s trauma or negative experiences. Just because it didn’t happen to YOU doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen to others.
I get all my journalism advice from people named Mack Fish and Sauce. How many gift cards did Frank give you for this comment? 🤣🤣🤣
This is insane. The screenshots are real. The voice recordings are real. You are unmoored from reality.
Frank is a con man. Jimmy Christmas is a con man. Anthony Grimes is a con man. [Redacted]. I hope you got your gift card for the good shout out though.
Yeah, you’re obviously oblivious to all the bullshit going on OR you where paid/rewarded to write this, or it’s Frank himself writing anonymously if that’s the case [redacted].
Love,
“The legend” Joe Bounds
Taylor was my granddaughter and I’m glad you had a good experience and are doing well. We buried her 9 months ago
Janice, please encourage your family to bring a lawsuit against Starfish. I give you my most sincere condolences.
Taylor had been a resident at Starfish with me longer then most of the other girls. She was a beautiful person inside and out. She is truly missed!!
A few takeaways from this article: When I stopped playing the victim in life, I stopped shooting dope. Second, people treat you how you allow them to treat you, but I’m also not soft. Third, I’ve dealt with Frank along with every other aforementioned RCO leader in your articles. They are human, just like you and I. They are also addicts, just like a lot of us. They fall short. They’ve also saved many lives including my own. I think a little more oversight (that isn’t the fox guarding the hen house) would do a lot of good. Lastly, I think that for the most part you’ve done you due diligence with these articles and I commend you for that. I just hope that as you previously mentioned, you intend to offer some solutions and not just make waves.
These guys are addicts so we should excuse the conspiracy to commit Medicaid fraud?
These guys give credence to the stigma that addicts are untrustworthy people who manipulate and steal in order to further their interests. Frank is a delusional narcissist who shouldn’t be allowed to operate in the recovery industry. Instead of doing drugs to mask his feelings of inadequacy and discontent he has proclaimed himself a hero who is on a mission from god. It’s unclear how much of his own bullshit he actually believes but it’s clear to me he is doing more harm than good.
One of the most disgusting human beings. Hands down. I hope this goes more than viral. I also bet you’ve received at least 4 emails threatening to “sue”. Thanks for exposing the heck out of him. I only wish you could have exposed more, because we all know there’s so much more.
Yes he is the most despicable person I’ve ever encountered. Listening to his rant from the above-posted recording brought back some unpleasant emotions and I’m sure I’m not the only one. This guy poses a danger to people’s mental health and sobriety. There’s gotta be a way of blacklisting him since apparently the powers that be aren’t prioritizing this matter. I need some closure.
Seems like there might be argument that the availability of opioid-settlement funding is actually hurting the people it’s supposed to help if it enables or motivates people like the Bellangers to be involved.
In the meantime this sets the standard and example for those in early recovery to profit and capitalize on the misery of fellow sufferers. “Hey what a great idea! I can avoid my own recovery and make a lot of money by claiming to help others.” What a great example of successful recovery!
I’m living in one of these housing currently going through this situation with my mental health as we speak, please reach out to me I’d like help exposing what really goes on here. And how terrible it is!!
Hi, I tried getting in touch with you at the email address you listed, but I’m not sure if it was correct. Please feel free to reach out to me anytime.
He’s a Felon and got away with (redacted) in NJ and so much more! Not an honest bone in his body! His family has nothing to do with him! He is scum and not to be trusted with a dime or any lives! The fact he got this far shows how stupid the people are who gave him the non profit shit is! If he can do it then any criminal can. They are thieves! Defund this hoax or more lives will be lost!
Hi, I redacted your statement about what happened in NJ because I don’t have a way to verify it. I’d love to talk with you if you’re willing. Please reach out anytime.