Treatment Courts Hold Thanksgiving Celebration
[Written by Patrick Bean]
Courtrooms are not normally places of grand festivity; however, Tuesday saw Court 4 buck the usual trend of trepidation during the annual Treatment Courts’ Thanksgiving Courts.
Marked as a celebration of “gratitude, growth, and the glimmers along the way”, the event attracted a bevvy of local leaders, including His Excellency Governor Andrew Murdoch, several Government Ministers, ranking members of the judicial system and social agents key to the quest to uplift those criminally burdened by illicit substance use and mental health disorders.
Senior Magistrate Maxanne Anderson, who oversees the Treatment Courts, orchestrated the event, which also featured keynote speakers Michael and Tiernei Buckham-White.
The pair shared their lived experience as a result of the loss of their son, Randolph McLeod Buckham-White, whose life was adversely affected by mental health and substance use challenges.
“The addiction had taken form and kind of pulled him in,” said Ms Buckham-White. “So it became a four-year journey.
“We live in the state of Georgia, where we did have some good things happen last week. But, out of the 50 states, Georgia has very low mental health support.
“So something such as a court like this could have really helped our son. There was nowhere for us to turn. It was very isolating, and he couldn’t get the help.”
She encouraged Drug Court clients to be diligent in the quest to abstain from substance use, find positive outlets for clean, productive growth, and take advantage of the opportunity being provided for change.
“The people that were serving him did not believe that he was as ill as he was,” added the mother. “He could get himself together, and they would say, ‘Oh, he’s fine.” And I would say, “No, he’s really not fine.”
“So we just were stuck in such a vicious cycle. It was very overwhelming, and it goes to show that everyone has a war. Everyone has things that happen in their lives, and people lose second chances and community support.
“Societal engagement really makes a big difference in the way that you’re getting it provided.
“One of the things one of our colleagues would always say is, ‘When the student is ready, the teacher will appear’.
“And the teacher can be an experience in life. It can be an opportunity. It can be a person. It can be something that you give to someone else.
“We believe that the work you all have done to move your lives to this point, and understand how many different stories are out there about the challenge of substance use. We hope that there’s something we can say today that is helpful and encouraging. We wanted to give you a little bit of backstory about our son and how he wound up.
“He’d go into psychosis and ultimately lose his life while he was hallucinating. He was at school, and it was the end of a long journey, but it was emotionally devastating for our family.
“My encouragement to each of you, those who are part of the program, is to continue with your resilience. This I know is not easy. We saw our son go through many treatment programs, day programs, residential programs.
“My encouragement to each of you is to depend on this staff. Ask for help. My son would ask for help until the time he didn’t. And I know this is a lifetime journey.”
Among others taking the podium to express gratitude were current clients and professionals associated with Drug Treatment Court, as well as a graduate.
