SAN ANTONIO – Proudly wearing their caps and gowns, 27 men and women marched in as their families and friends clapped and took photos capturing the moment many thought would never come.
“I suffered with addiction since I was very young. I was a teenager when I got on drugs, and I never thought that I would change,” said Alyssa R., who was among the latest graduating class of the Bexar County Felony Drug Court.
Her diploma handed to her by Judge Ernie Glenn represented how far she’d come.
“I’m a new woman,” she said. “I’m a great member of my family. I’m a good mom. I work. I do all the things I never thought that I would.”
Alyssa said it wasn’t easy, but it was well worth the effort.
“I couldn’t be the mom I am without drug court, and I wouldn’t be the woman I am without him,” she said, holding her smiling son Sebastian in her arms.
Alyssa was among the graduates who shared their powerful testimonials of their battles with life-threatening addictions, being in and out of jail, with many having lost everything, including their families.
Finally, it took going before a judge who could have sent them to prison but instead saw they had a desperate desire to turn their lives around.
To do that, they voluntarily agreed to undertake the Family Drug Court’s intensive, months-long programs.
“We can’t help everybody,” said Judge Glenn. “But the ones who do want help, we’re going to be there for them.”
He said the court’s support system is a major reason why the court’s 10 percent re-arrest record has remained steady over the last three years.
“I’m talking about our counselors and our probation officers, and just everybody’s involved in this process,” Glenn said. “It’s just a lot of caring people.”
Glenn said they try to provide whatever services are needed, including mental health. He said a dramatic example was recently when a woman came to court “who had used heroin probably laced with fentanyl.”
“She fell on the floor, dead,” Glenn said.
Fortunately, however, a Bexar County Sheriff’s deputy administered Narcan and was able to bring her back to life. The judge said she is now in treatment.
Of the court’s more than 1,000 graduates, Glenn said there have been two deaths from heroin overdoses.
“But it’s rare,” he said. “Most people are learning. They’re really learning to get away from the drugs.”
For that reason and seeing the pride in the faces of the court’s most recent graduates, Glenn said, “I have a lot of hope.”