Reentry ceremony uplifting, but the battle never ends
Lycoming County held its fifth Reentry Service Center program transition ceremony last week.
The event commemorated the completion of the six-month long reentry program by 29 graduates.
These are 29 success stories for people whose path to success has been excruciatingly difficult. And it’s a path that must be maintained each day amid a tricky set of circumstances.
Those circumstances were described by one past graduate who detailed an odyssey that started with marijuana experimentation at age 13 and moved through teen pregnancy, drinking, pills, stealing from family, heroin use, and an unsuccessful first reentry program effort.
“Finally, I was sick and tired of being sick and tired,” Ashley Thompson told those in attendance.
Many people in this situation never get past being sick and tired. But she returned to the Reentry Services Center, successfully completed the arduous, six-month program, has gotten a job and has learned how to be a mom and productive member of the community.
All those things take pressure off the entire community system of law enforcement, the courts and the social services network.
Even as these 29 success stories were being celebrated, there were headlines on neighboring pages talking about heroin use and drug charges and the entire mess that goes with that lifestyle.
It was a sobering reminder that this is a battle each day for the heart and soul of much of our community.
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