Author Topic: Was Jubilee Different  (Read 7074 times)

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Offline Anonymous

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Was Jubilee Different
« on: July 08, 2008, 02:03:46 PM »
I have a question that I have yet to find an answer to.

I was in the Roloff Jubilee Home in Corpus in the early 90's.  I was not a "favored" girl nor was I compliant with everything there.  I was actually a bit of a rebel as I did not agree with the religeous teachings there.  I was placed on "restriction" many times and wasn't allowed to speak to anyone else and vice versa.  I was eventually told to leave.  But I never saw any PHYSICAL abuse while I was there.  I do think there were some practices that were very detrimental to one's self-image.  But, I was allowed to leave the compound at one point for a "day in town".  I sang in the Jubilee ensemble and went on tour with them.  We even spent a day in San Antonio on the riverwalk.  We were allowed to split into groups and "do our own thing".  Anyhow....

My question is, why is it that there is very little said here (or anywhere) regarding Jubilee or City of Refuge?  Do you think it was because everyone in those 2 homes were adults?  Do you think it was the time frame?  I know I heard of fights in COR between men who were housed there and we would hear an occasional story of someone being hit by Wiley jr.  I personally was never struck or denied food or placed in a locked room.  I guess I'm a little confused.  Maybe it was because I was being supported by a church?  Which is another point I wanted to make, I had no money.  A church offered to take collections to pay for my stay there, but to the best of my knowledge only one check for around 1200 dollars was sent to People's Baptist Church.

Now, just to clarify, I am not defending the farm or any program.  I am just asking because I really am befuddled by the lack of information coming out of these two home.  I find it interesting that the PBC website is nowhere to be found any longer.  But at any rate I'm wondering why Jubilee and COR seemed to be different from the rest......
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Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2008, 12:32:43 PM »
Well I see 31 views and no replies.  This tells me that no one has any info on Jubilee.  Perhaps you folks should not have Jubilee as part of this forum since there has been no reported abuse from there.  I am not doubting what the others have said about the other homes, especially rebekah, but if no one has reported abuse at Jubilee is it fair for you to have them on a watch list?  And yes, I do understand it is a part of the Roloff compound...but apparently it is very different from the homes for the younger girls.  If anyone knows different....PLEASE correct me.  I am seeking the truth....
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #2 on: July 10, 2008, 03:45:12 PM »
There is always some difference between adult facilities and juvenile facilities. Adult can remove themselves from the program unless they are court ordered and if someone tries to stop them, they are committing a criminal act. So if someone in an adult facility does not follow the house rules there is only one solution - out on the street with the individual.

It have been the case regarding straight and all their off-springs. Several times the police have been at the facilities and got adults out. Maybe they were too cleaver at Jubilee. Maybe the expelled the people, who did not follow their rules.

I guess that why there is so little info on Jubilee. The category on Fornits Wiki about Roloff homes do in fact have very little info about this specific home. It is mentioned in relationship with the war between Roloff and Texas (Christian Alamo), but specific first hand testimonies about structure, program, levels, consequences are hard to find. Maybe it is because the people who lived there are just too old for internet use or dead.

But the reason for keeping the Roloff category is very clear. A lot of former staff members created their own private prison. They used the rules learned at Roloff or developed them. An interesting story is about the Bethels Boys Academy. They started out with the Roloff system and corporal punishment. Late before the original owners sold the place after hard weather also destroyed the place they adapted the WWASP system instead. A system the new owners have continued to use.

I will try to improve the articles about the adult facilities, so the difference in standard and treatment at juvenile and adult Roloff facilities can be clear to the readers. It seems that there was a huge difference.

Could you put some light on level system, daily life, living conditions, education etc?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #3 on: July 10, 2008, 05:54:22 PM »
Might I suggest you register so those who may wish to respond privately can reach you?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2008, 05:59:07 PM »
What you are saying makes sense.  I actually WAS kicked out.  I was given what was left of my money (about $50) and dropped off at the CC bus station where I called a friend to wire me enough money to get home.  I don't really recall levels.  I guess if you call helpers a level up then there were levels.  Most of us really did "want" to be there in Jubilee....we had children and broken families mostly due to drug use/abuse.  Many of us had already lost our children.  There were only 3 girls there who were court ordered and even they seemed ok with being there.  We DID the scripture chanting like the other homes and we were not allowed to look at the guys from the other homes.  There was no lockup that I remember.  Punishments were "scrub floors" and laps.  I ran several in that terrible CC sun!!  And restriction from talking to others was a big punishment.  I remember many hours in the fields picking peas and long hours cleaning up the come and dine.

Daily life for me was up at 5 to make a lap around the farm (walking).  We always went as a group and everyone had to participate.  Then we had a "devotional".  Then out to the fields.  Lunch and dish duty most days.  To the dorm for showers, devotions, that sort of thing.  We had scripture recitation in there again also.  We had to listen to Lester at least once a day.  A lot of it is hazy, it's been a long time.  I don't recall anyone being in school except for one girl who was sent to Jubilee even though she was 17 because she was pregnant.  I believe it was indeed PACE.  All of us had either finished high school or dropped out by the time we went to Jubilee.  The living conditions weren't luxurious by any means....it was a farm after all.  For a northern girl who has an aversion to bugs and is accustomed to anal retentive levels of cleanliness, it was not the best of living conditions.  But again, it was a farm.  I did see cockroaches several times but was told they are everywhere in Texas.  And we also had trouble getting rid of one very large rat.

Now I did not like any of the folks running Jubilee....couldn't stand the dorm mother actually.  But I have to say, she never abused me physically.

I'm just seeking info because I was there.  I was looking for a friend and found all these websites about the homes and was very sad.  Sad that I didn't recognize this was occurring and sad that I may have been supportive of an organization that abused children.  If anyone was abused at Jubilee it would be interesting to hear.

And again, I am not defending Roloff.  I am a new person these days....not because of salvation (I'm agnostic), and not because of Jubilee.  I'm a new person because I chose to be.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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2
« Reply #5 on: December 22, 2008, 10:10:36 AM »
do somebody can work it??
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline Anonymous

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Re: 2
« Reply #6 on: December 22, 2008, 04:09:25 PM »
Quote from: "gaincoin"
do somebody can work it??
What ?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline hurrikayne

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2008, 10:39:45 PM »
Curious - Do you recall the area in the middle of the Jubilee dorm, where we'd sit to write our sentences, do memorization, have our limited social time?  There was some sort of mural on the wall.  There was a podium there as well, I think with a cross....anyway, BEHIND that wall on the left was lock up.  There were two lock up rooms.  If you had your back to the front doors, you'd walk along the hall with rooms immediately to your left until you passed up the little center area I am talking about, they were on the right there.  On the right hand side there were two doors, one to the right, one to the left.  These doors did NOT face the same direction as the doors of the "rooms" which would have been on your left as you walked down the hall.  Lock up was less than half the width of the center area, it was really quite small.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can\'t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. " - Lee Iacocca

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #8 on: December 30, 2008, 11:26:46 AM »
Yes...I do remember.  And actually, now that you say that, I do remember someone eing locked up in a "solitary" room.  At least that's what I called it.  Her name was Belinda and they thought she took the scissors.  Hmmm...it is so odd how I have such fuzzy memories from back then....and how the memories seem to come back in sections if you will.

So why is it that I was never abused in such a manner?  I was such a rebellious young woman.  I KNOW that Ms. Thorn hated me.  I very openly challenged their method of salvation as well as their pressure to be saved yet I was never locked up or hit.  Weird...I wonder why.  Ms. Thorn used to tell me I was too smart for my own good and that I wouldn't outsmart God.  I was always on restriction from the rest of the girls as well, yet I would spew my beliefs at the top of my lungs.  Still no lock up.  I wonder why?

This much I DO know....that place has my head in a bad place...sometimes it's hard to shake.
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Offline hurrikayne

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #9 on: December 30, 2008, 11:49:17 AM »
Curious - Drop me an E-mail at [email protected]
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can\'t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. " - Lee Iacocca

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #10 on: September 06, 2009, 01:25:21 AM »
mk
Quote from: "Just Curious"
Well I see 31 views and no replies.  This tells me that no one has any info on Jubilee.  Perhaps you folks should not have Jubilee as part of this forum since there has been no reported abuse from there.  I am not doubting what the others have said about the other homes, especially rebekah, but if no one has reported abuse at Jubilee is it fair for you to have them on a watch list?  And yes, I do understand it is a part of the Roloff compound...but apparently it is very different from the homes for the younger girls.  If anyone knows different....PLEASE correct me.  I am seeking the truth....
 

I was in Jubilee in 82 and 83.  I was in the ensemble.  I was one of the people who was supposed to be in the plane that crashed.  Abuse?  Yes.  Some that I experienced myself... some I witnessed.  Brainwashed?  Yes.  The ptsd almost killed me, but I survived.  Not all women in Jubilee were adults.  Some of us were put there because we were so close to adult age and perhaps Rebekka was full.  Some of us had felonies, and they were worried about the violence associated with the crimes commited and exposing those women to the Rebekka girls.  I don't think that there was much corpral punishment.  The abuse was mental and spiritual.  Lots and lots of head games.  They were not afraid to lock you up or make you stay up all night for the smallest infraction.  We were seriously sleep deprived.  Miss Diane had a special gift for scaring the shit out of you for any infraction.  They were big fans of endless lock up.  Any questions Girlfriend?
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Offline hurrikayne

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #11 on: September 06, 2009, 01:30:43 AM »
Actually, my response was to a prior poster, Curious Suze...I'm personally well aware of the tactics and emotional/spiritual abuses doled out in Jubilee, as well as what some of the Rebekah girls suffered.  Shoot me an E-mail at [email protected].  There are some things I would be happy to share with you.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can\'t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. " - Lee Iacocca

Offline Anonymous

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #12 on: September 06, 2009, 01:31:31 AM »
Quote from: "Wiki Researcher"
There is always some difference between adult facilities and juvenile facilities. Adult can remove themselves from the program unless they are court ordered and if someone tries to stop them, they are committing a criminal act. So if someone in an adult facility does not follow the house rules there is only one solution - out on the street with the individual.

It have been the case regarding straight and all their off-springs. Several times the police have been at the facilities and got adults out. Maybe they were too cleaver at Jubilee. Maybe the expelled the people, who did not follow their rules.

I guess that why there is so little info on Jubilee. The category on Fornits Wiki about Roloff homes do in fact have very little info about this specific home. It is mentioned in relationship with the war between Roloff and Texas (Christian Alamo), but specific first hand testimonies about structure, program, levels, consequences are hard to find. Maybe it is because the people who lived there are just too old for internet use or dead.

But the reason for keeping the Roloff category is very clear. A lot of former staff members created their own private prison. They used the rules learned at Roloff or developed them. An interesting story is about the Bethels Boys Academy. They started out with the Roloff system and corporal punishment. Late before the original owners sold the place after hard weather also destroyed the place they adapted the WWASP system instead. A system the new owners have continued to use.

I will try to improve the articles about the adult facilities, so the difference in standard and treatment at juvenile and adult Roloff facilities can be clear to the readers. It seems that there was a huge difference.

Could you put some light on level system, daily life, living conditions, education etc?
There were definately people held against their will.  Are you serious.  I was held there against my will.  I wouldn't have asked for help if the police had walked up and asked me.  They had me in such fear.  You have no idea.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »

Offline hurrikayne

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #13 on: September 06, 2009, 09:41:59 AM »
Yeah, and there was no level system.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »
"Motivation is everything. You can do the work of two people, but you can\'t be two people. Instead, you have to inspire the next guy down the line and get him to inspire his people. " - Lee Iacocca

Offline TimScrivener

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Re: Was Jubilee Different
« Reply #14 on: May 10, 2010, 05:52:04 PM »
It seems to me that the original poster is wanting to be convinced that there was abuse where there was not. And of course there are those posters here that claim to be abused. I would be curious to hear what kind of "abuse" you experienced. Seems like some of you think it's abusive to be told you're wrong. And as far as a lock up room goes, I know that what you are calling a "lock up" is a room designed to keep violent people from hurting themselves and others. Chances are if you ended up in there the police were called and you were hauled off. Yeah, wow, that's really abusive huh.
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 07:00:00 PM by Guest »