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Drug-court grad sings praises of Trumbull treatment program
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Shandrieka Shavers, 32, stands in the hallway of the Trumbull County Courthouse after graduating from the drug court..
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Shandrieka Shavers, 32, has discovered over the past two years that she not only has a beautiful voice, but that she wants to use it to help others.
Before she entered the Trumbull County Drug Court and her 12-month stay at Hannah’s House in Vienna Township, she couldn’t help anyone else.
“I always stopped at myself because I had such bad self-esteem,” she said.
Shavers was one of five women and nine men who graduated this week from drug court, a decade-old diversion program in which people with drug and alcohol addictions can avoid a felony conviction if they successfully complete a treatment program.
The program, under the supervision of common-pleas Judge Andrew Logan and coordinator Darryl L. Rodgers, works weekly with about 75 participants. Fifteen or so participants graduate every six months — usually after 18 months to three years in the program.
Only about 20 percent of those who ask permission to enter the program are accepted, and about 70 percent of participants graduate. Those who fail go to jail, Rodgers said.
Of those who graduate, very few re-offend and end up back in court, about 14 percent according to one study, Rodgers said.
At last week’s graduation, as Judge Logan formally dismissed charges against the graduates, it was clear that many of this year’s graduates had stumbled along the way, using drugs, which showed up in a “dirty screen,” meaning a positive urine test.
When each graduate made brief remarks, it also was clear that many had not only gained sobriety, but they had gained a greater appreciation for themselves.
“I want to thank everyone here for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself,” one man said, acknowledging the counselors at Community Solutions Association of Warren, Keith Evans from the county Adult Probation Department, Rodgers and others.
For Shavers, who grew up in Warren, the first few months of the program were tough, and she continued to use drugs.
That resulted in her being placed in the Northeast Ohio Community Alternative Program, a community corrections facility on Pine Street Southeast, where she took classes that helped her to think in different ways, especially regarding how to think through her actions and become less impulsive.
“I used my emotions — when I was happy or sad,” she said. “If you have a belief you’re never going to be nothing, then you’re going to get into trouble.”
Shavers’ time at NEOCAP was helpful, but it wasn’t enough. When she went back home after four months, she used again. “Even though I’d had those classes at NEOCAP, you have to have support, especially if you’re very vulnerable,” she said.
Instead of giving up on Shavers, drug-court officials placed her with the Warren Family Mission’s 12-month, faith-based residential program for women in Vienna, called Hannah’s House.
Michelle Beuchene, Hannah’s House director, said the program tries to provide the women with structure, because most of them grew up without any.
Among the skills they learn is to assess themselves and learn what their talents are.
Shavers discovered that she had a terrific singing voice and was good at leading the other women in exercise. She also completed the requirements for her GED.
Within three months, Shavers had undergone an “amazing transformation,” Beuchene said. Many people who heard her sing have asked her to perform for them, including Beuchene, who asked Shavers to sing at her wedding this weekend.
“And I’m picky,” Beuchene said.
Despite the growth Shavers achieved during her 12 months at Hannah’s House, culminating with her graduation there in December, she was concerned what would happen when she went back into the world on her own.
Fortunately, Warren Family Mission was able to offer Shavers a job, and now she mentors to women living in the mission’s Women’s House in downtown Warren. Shavers also lives there.
She also uses her voice as praise and worship leader for the mission, which has led her to start making plans to continue her education by taking voice classes in college.
She credits mission Pastor Chris Gilger for allowing her to remain in a supportive environment and for providing her with spiritual guidance.
George Jarbeck, a counselor at Community Solutions, said many participants appreciate being given another chance.
“Their support system has broken down,” Jarbeck said. “The family says, ‘We’ve had it. We want to believe it [that their loved one will quit drugs], but they can’t. So when somebody says, ‘We’ll hang in there with you to the end,’ that’s important.”