Standing by our veterans so they can stand on their own
“You get to be happy again, and you get to deserve happiness.”
Michael is Veterans Court’s latest graduate, and with his permission some of his story is shared here. He is one of roughly 375 local U.S. military veterans who owe a debt of gratitude to a special division of Chatham County’s Accountability Courts, the Drug Court tailored to helping veterans. Overseen by the Honorable Judge James Bass, it is a voluntary program for adults with prior military service who have been charged with one or more criminal offenses in Chatham County and are struggling with addiction, mental illness, and/or trauma-related disorders such as PTSD. It was developed to help participants achieve total abstinence from drugs and/or alcohol, be diverted from prison or jail, and have a more satisfying sober and law-abiding life.
Most veterans are strengthened by their service, but some struggle to engage or re-engage with civilian life. When veterans and service members grappling with substance use, mental health, or trauma become involved in the justice system, Veterans Courts ensure that they have the opportunity for treatment and restoration. Those who work with accountability courts will tell you that there’s a simple and straightforward reason for a court like this: “Because it works. And it works because incarceration does not really change behavior regarding use of alcohol and drugs. Treatment does.”
Every Veterans Court story is unique, but each participant who chooses to enter this program finds in it nothing less than brothers and sisters, new comrades in arms who are walking similarly difficult paths. The structure of the judicial system is underscored by the support and understanding of other veterans fighting this same fight to regain their lives, their dignity, and their freedom from the things that brought them there.
In his graduation address, Michael said, “For 16 years I felt like I didn’t deserve to be alive, I didn’t deserve to be happy, I didn’t deserve anything. I did horrible things when I had to and I survived when other people didn’t, and I didn’t deserve to. So I drank. I drank it all down.” The overwhelming response from the room full of people listening to this was pure understanding, absolute encouragement, and 100% respect for the man who can say these things about himself in the past tense. They know that because of Veteran’s Court, he no longer lives in that dark place. Some of them are alumni of this program and already hold the prized challenge coin that attests to their successful renewal; some of them are still in the process and soak up Michael’s words as the promise of what is yet to come for them.
Michael’s story doesn’t end with the dark chapters. “All the pain, all the misery, all the stuff that never went away – I faced everything. Now I smile every day and I mean it!” Michael says, “This program helped me face all of that. Do I have a lot to make up for? Yeah. I have amends to make until the day I die now. Some I’ll never be able to make up, but for the most part I can make up to the people I hurt the worst – my family, my daughters. Every time I look at them, I just think about how I’m better for them. THIS PROGRAM made me better for them, so I’m very, very thankful for this program.”
