Five individuals celebrated their victory against addiction Wednesday afternoon during a Drug Court Graduation ceremony where they expressed gratitude and determination.
Christian County Drug Court is not for the faint of heart, which was expressed by graduates Shannon Davenport, Coty Flynn, Derrick Tillman, Devin Johnson and Mindy Keller Wednesday, but they all agree that it will work if you put in the work and responsibility. Davenport says what drove her was a desire to live and see her children grow up, and says she knows that even though she’s done with the program, the real challenge begins now.
Johnson says the drug use was just a symptom of something greater, and once he got himself straightened out, he was able to put the drugs behind him.
Keller says she was self-medicating back then and didn’t know how to get better, but this program gave her the tools to make better decisions and stay clean.
Judge Andrew Self and Judge John Atkins spoke well of their graduates, saying they’ve seen them at their worst and it is a true honor to see them now at their best, wishing them well and luck for the future to come.
The Christian County Drug Court program is an extensive 18-month long program which has a strict, four-phase effort that includes frequent drug testing, maintaining a job, mandatory attendance at recovery meetings and weekly appearances to drug court.