Salvation Army Maj. Moses Reyes described his organization's work yesterday at an Iwilei luncheon meeting reminiscent of a business touting its success to others in the same line of work.

Of the 86 men who went through the Adult Rehabilitation Center in the past year, 90 percent obtained jobs, and 10 percent returned to their families, Reyes told the 50 invited guests.

“;We restore people to productive living within the community one person at a time,”; he said. “;It works.”;

The Salvation Army invited state and city officials and representatives from churches and other programs that work with prisoners, substance abusers and the homeless for a tour.

Of the men who have been through the program, “;nine out of 10 have been homeless, nine out of 10 have been incarcerated,”; Reyes said. Graduates of the six-month rehab program sat at each table, giving the lunch guests a chance to hear a personal success story to put a face to the statistics.

Musician Ray Kaai McCoy stilled lunchtime chatter when he sang his composition “;Time to Change,”; based on words from a poem written by a local man serving a life sentence: “;I wasn't there to see my babies grow. ... I know that I did wrong. ... Oh, little baby, Daddy's going to change.”;

McCoy, 49, said in an interview later, “;I was an addict for 36 years of my life, an 'ice' addict for 15 years and then a cocaine addict. I've been clean one year and 10 months today.”;

A guitarist and percussionist who played with several local groups, McCoy said, “;I lost a good wife and a good job. My musical career went out the back door.”; He spent 22 years in prison on burglary, auto theft and other convictions.

“;I went through rehab every time I was in the system, but this is the first outside program where I made it. This place helped me with the spiritual side I lacked in my life. The changes God made, I'm still going through change. Change is a lifetime thing.”;

McCoy said “;music is the only gift I have,”; and he returns to play in the praise band at Wednesday and Sunday services at the center. But for all “;beneficiaries”; in the program, work in the Salvation Army Thrift Shop and warehouse is mandatory, and there he discovered a talent for repairing donated appliances.

“;I like fixing broken things and seeing them work again,”; he said. “;Because that's what I am.”;

Another graduate told the guests at his table, “;I'm not the kind of guy you'd usually invite to something like this.”; A man who attends 12-step program meetings several times a week, he asked to retain the anonymity of his name tag, Justin P.

Justin, 36, is proud of how he has filed an income tax return for the first time in his life and is now working in a maintenance and security job at a homeless shelter. He came to Hawaii from Arizona to run a business, but life spiraled downward into addiction.

“;I drank everything I made. Then methamphetamine was my drug of choice.”; He has spent 10 years in prison.

At one point his family filed a missing-person report after he dropped out of their lives. “;I didn't start talking to my family again until I was nine months sober. This was my fifth time in treatment.”; Justin said finding the Salvation Army center was sheer chance: “;If I heard this was a treatment center when I walked in looking for shelter, I wouldn't have done it.”;

“;If you work through someplace like this, it gives you a chance to grow. Other people don't realize they have character flaws, so they don't experience growth.”;

Like other graduates, he returns to speak to chemical dependency classes that are part of the rehab program. “;My story may help the next guy. I'd like to get into a service job. What's been given to me I'd like to give back.”;

Guests saw a restaurant-quality kitchen in the tour yesterday, and tidy dorms and clubhouse amenities including a weight room, recreation center and library. But the encounters with graduates are what left the strong impression of a program that, as Reyes said, works.