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A non-profit supported by several governmental entities held an open house for what are referred to as “sober living homes” on Thursday.

August 31 is universally known as National Overdose Awareness Day, and also happened to be the day the non-profit 3rd Judicial District Recovery Support Services, Inc. hosted an open house for sober living homes, or places of residence to accommodate individuals recovering from substance abuse.

These homes are often described as a buffer between rehabilitation programs and mainstream society, places that allow for recovering people to ease back into life without the worry of lofty housing and living expenses.

Transportation is also a concern, as some of the participants had their licenses revoked and may not easily get another.

One of the houses was named in memory and honor of Judge Joyce Ward who was an influential person in the growth of Hamblen County’s recovery court and also served as the general sessions court Judge.

Ward first entered her career in private practice, then went on to serve as Assistant Public Defender in the 3rd Judicial District.

Recovery courts are court dockets that work to lower correctional costs with both the safety of the community and public welfare in mind. It is due to these courts that non-violent people with substance abuse difficulties participate in treatment under both legal and clinical supervision.

The two houses that opened Thursday are female-only, though the non-profit also hopes to be opening a male-only house soon as well in another local area.

Penny Knight, the coordinator for the Third Judicial District Hamblen County Recovery Court, said that housing is the biggest difficulty citizens newly released from prison encounter.

“We’re trying to reduce recidivism for people from jail. Our No. 1 deterrent to recovery is housing because they’re coming from jail and most of the time don’t have resources for deposits or furniture, some don’t even have transportation. The city is actually also working on donating something from their retired fleet to help people get to work,” Knight said.

“That’s another goal – one of our goals is to help productive members of society and that they’re leading healthier lives of course. Across the country recovery courts have a 40% success rate. That was on average. We [Hamblen County] currently have a 79% retention rate, we’ve only had participants for a little over two years. So the success is rated by if there is recidivism when they’re back in the community or if they stay sober.”

The county commission, the McNabb Center, Breath of Life Ministries and many other people and non-profit organizations contributed to this project and the rehabilitation services needed to make it happen successfully.

Bill Brittain, the Mayor of Hamblen County, who was also involved in the project’s fruition was present at the open house. He shared a few words about the development.

“It’s a special day. It really is in the life of our Recovery Court. It’s an institution in Hamblen County that’s been here for a long time. It was a couple years ago that we kind of reinvented it and went from a misdemeanor court to a felony court and Judge [Beth] Boniface agreed to be the judge for the court and Penny came on board and is the slave driver for the team. She’s getting things done and I just really wanted to thank everybody for being here,” Brittain said.

“Let me recognize some of the folks that are here – Judge Pearson, Judge Boniface of course is our recovery court judge, county commissioner Joe Huntsman, Kyle Walker, Kay Senter from City Council, Vice Mayor Tommy Pedigo, [Morristown] Mayor Chesney, Sheriff Mullins.”

“Also the recovery court team. About a 16-20 member recovery court team that, every Thursday, they meet and review all of the cases,” Brittain said.

He then asked those in the audience who were part of the team of volunteers to raise their hands, and several including Sheriff Mullins, were recognized for their hard work and contribution to the court.

“About every family has had some story or some experience with drug use or drug abuse with some member of the family. Having places like this [housing] and a court like recovery court – some other facilities and programs that we have in town – we are very blessed that the folks that do suffer with addiction can get help. That’s what we are here [today] to celebrate: the removal of one of the barriers to recovery. Barriers include safe and sober housing, which is what this represents. Employment, making a livable wage, and employment. Those are major barriers in the process of recovery,” Brittain said.

Melanie Morelock, the original coordinator, shared her experience working for the recovery court and for Ward.

“When I first met Judge Ward she was in private practice. She then went to the public defender’s office and during that time I worked as the coordinator. I think she always had this passion for helping people. She had a servant’s heart.

“In 2004 she asked if I would be interested in helping with the new drug court program. I didn’t know much about that but we all, as a team, we had a great team… when first started out we had no clue what we were doing. We would do something on a policy procedure and be like ‘this is not ideal’ so we would change that and then revamp stuff,” said Morelock.

“I want to talk a little bit about Joyce Ward. Of course, she loved her family. If you ever saw her and Richard together you knew that was a real love. And then of course every day she would tell us what was going on with [her daughter] Kelly and the grandbabies. Her family always came first. And her coworkers, we were all like family. So in 2005 we started going good [with work] but then she was diagnosed with cancer.

“But despite that, throughout our work, she kept us going. She wanted [people in the programs] to succeed, to always do their best. She was a great leader and would always want the best for them and for our county. She was fun-loving, compassionate, caring, giving, qualified, resourceful, tenacious. And, of course, our fearless leader. She would be very proud to see where we are today.”

It was a sentimental moment when Morelock went on to read a poem about not giving up when things get hard, titled “Don’t Quit,” which she felt embodied Ward’s character.

Morelock also shared her memory of Ward’s resilience when she had attended court despite being ill, with her bandana and sense of can-do attitude – a testament to the impact Ward was committed to making in the community.

Ward’s daughter spoke about how her mother had a very special relationship with the community that she had given everything she had to the people around her and the position she worked in.

“We are just so honored to have this house here honored in her name, and to be here,” she said.

Judge Beth Boniface, a Circuit Court judge who took over for Ward on the project amid her diagnosis, gave a brief thank-you to the supporters who made the project possible.

“I was determined to make this mission successful and grow this program. To make it successful, we had to have of course safe housing that was close. In walking distance of treatment, walking distance of the courthouse. Mayor Chesney and the City Council were so kind, we now have transportation,” Boniface said.

“We do want to grow and get a male’s house soon but right now we have a lot of community support, Breath of Life Ministries, Ron Presley and his wife, they are housing our men. We’ve also got McNabb Center as part of our treatment centers. So many people have put sweat equity into these homes to get them up and going and I want to say thank you, thank you thank you [to all involved].”