‘Go ahead and pre-arrange my funeral’

DALTON — Chris Howard testified his drinking had gotten so bad he was headed for an early grave.

“Friends and family wouldn’t come around because they couldn’t stand to see the shape I was in,” said Howard, one of 41 graduates at the Day Reporting Center’s fourth graduation ceremony this week. “I racked up many alcohol-related (criminal) charges. My liver was so damaged the doctors told my family that if I didn’t quit drinking that they could go ahead and pre-arrange my funeral.”

Formed under the state Department of Corrections, the center is a non-residential, mandated program that allows low to moderate risk drug and alcohol offenders to stay with their families and attend classes geared toward “changing criminal thinking and behavior through a combination of counseling, educational programming and close supervision,” according to program literature.

After he “failed every time” to halt his dependence on alcohol, Howard said the center was the right approach for him.

“After trying many times to quit drinking — both on my own and with help from doctors — I didn’t feel like there was any hope for me,” he said before almost 350 people at Rock Bridge Community Church. “Thankfully my probation officer and the judge didn’t feel that way, so instead of sending me to prison they placed me in the DRC ... I didn’t know what to expect. I knew I’d broken the law and expected to be punished.”

Going into the program with that reasoning led to Howard being “confused at first” when he found the staff cared about him.

“The fact that I was a convicted felon was not reiterated,” he said. “I wasn’t told I was a bad person ... (and they told me) they were here to guide me through the recovery process — and that’s exactly what they did.”

Now Howard — who admittedly lost several jobs because of his drinking during a decade of alcoholism — is studying psychology in college with the hope of becoming a substance abuse counselor.

Graduate Chris Curtis, who admitted he was addicted to methamphetamine for 10 years, said the center has helped him acquire many skills.

“Number one, (I learned) to take responsibility for my own actions and not blame things on everybody else,” he began. “Number two, I’ve learned to set goals and follow through with them, something I’ve never really done. My success in this program has brought back the trust and respect from my family, which means everything to me. And also along the way I met someone I never knew — and that’s God. I have been blessed with so much ... I’m clean now and got God in my life and I’ve been baptized.”

After pausing to let the applause subside, Howard gave thanks for “new friends” and other support.

“My family, who never gave up on me when others did — thanks to them and to the DRC for what you’re doing,” he said.

Tulley Johnson, a longtime member of the Dalton Board of Education, said in his keynote address that graduations are a time for celebrations and “fresh beginnings.”

“It’s a time of unlimited possibilities (and I) dare you to look into your future with enthusiasm,” he challenged the graduates. “I dare you to succeed beyond your wildest expectations.”

Johnson told the graduates their collective change in “attitude, thinking and behavior” should lead them to set greater goals.

“You now have what you need to be successful, and if you truly want to be successful, you can be, it’s totally up to you,” he said. “Another way to be successful is to keep on learning — education is a vital link between your present and future success.

“I am fully aware that in today’s economy finding a job and keeping a job is becoming increasingly difficult. The first jobs that may be cut are the ones requiring very little skills or education. However, you can make yourselves valuable to your employers by getting and maintaining the necessary education, training and skills that are required. That way, you have increased the possibility of keeping the job you have, and if you don’t have a job, you could possibly increase your chance of being employed. Just keep on learning and become a lifelong learner, don’t stop after you’ve earned your GED.”

Four of the graduates earned their GEDs while in the program. One program participant died and graduated posthumously.

State Rep. Jay Neal, who represents Catoosa and Walker counties and said he is a former pastor, made an impromptu appearance and also spoke a few words of encouragement to the grads. Director Rod Weaver said the goal of the center is to reduce recidivism.

“We want to be change agents in the community,” he said of the center staff and graduates. “We want to make our community a better place to live — a safer place to live.”

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‘Go ahead and pre-arrange my funeral’

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