A group of several Big Island individuals participating in the Kona Drug Court program joined forces Friday to give back to their community.
A group of several Big Island individuals participating in the Kona Drug Court program joined forces Friday to give back to their community.
May is National Drug Court Month and each year participants in the Kona Drug Court program get involved with a community service project, Grayson Hashida, Big Island Drug Court coordinator, said Friday.
According to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals website, those suffering from drug-addiction may be sent to Drug Court in lieu of traditional justice system case processing, or jail.
The program then provides participants with a wide-range of assistance to get them back on track, including intensive treatment services, regular and random drug tests and a requirement that they make regular court appearances so a judge can review their progress. The program also rewards participants for a job well-done.
Each May, Drug Courts around the nation celebrate their success and contributions by holding special events.
This year’s outreach project for the Kona Drug Court program involved Ke Kama Pono, a safe house for boys run by The Salvation Army.
Hawaii County police officers assisted several Drug Court attendees and graduates and members of Ke Kama Pono in renovating the Captain Cook facility. Kona Circuit Court Judge Ronald Ibarra also made an appearance Friday. The Hawaii County Prosecutor’s Office along with the Hawaii County Public Defenders Office donated various items and material to the community service project, as well.
Kohala resident Greg Corrado, 28, recently graduated from the Drug Court program. He was getting ready to leave for the day when he explained his involvement. Corrado said he was ordered to attend Drug Court after failing probation; at the time he was using methamphetamine.
“And I got caught,” he explained.
Corrado had a troubled past, he said, and had been involved with drugs and alcohol since he was 15.
“I used drugs for everything. I would use drugs to celebrate; I would use drugs to mourn,” he said.
But now that’s all in the past. Corrado has since learned how to cope with his issues without the use of drugs or alcohol. He has a job, received his GED, and completed a semester of college. All thanks, he said, to the Drug Court program and the support of his sober family.
“Next stop would have been prison,” he said.
“Everything is better now,” he said.
Also present Friday was Drug Court participant Nohea Heinicke. The 44-year-old said he was arrested for drug paraphernalia and failed to comply with his probation terms, landing him a spot in the drug court program.
He’s been in the program for four months and said he’s already a changed man.
“I surrendered. I was ready. It’s up to you to surrender,” he said of of overcoming drug-related problems.
He compared drug court to being in high school, replete with strict rules and curfews, but said he’s appreciating the experience.
“They give you the tools you need to deal with society,” he said.
Recently, Heinicke went to one of his children’s schools to discuss drug addiction. He said it’s his children that are keeping him motivated.
“I find a lot of strength in my children,” he said.
The Big Island Drug Court Program started in 2002. It has had a 90 percent recidivism success rate for graduates during the past 13 years.
Hashida said there have been 98 graduates in Hilo and 105 in Kona. Since 2002, 203 individuals have enrolled in the Kona program with 202 participants in Hilo.