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Meet Your Neighbor: Shay Fleenor is another Drug Court success

The Drug Addiction Treatment Alliance program is certified by the state Supreme Court.

Sheri Trusty
Special to The News-Messenger
At his Oct. 6 DATA Program graduation, Shay Fleenor said sobriety and the changes he made through the program have given him a meaningful life filled with peace and contentment. “I don’t think things could be better,” he said.

PORT CLINTON — Once again, Judge Bruce Winters of Ottawa County Common Pleas Court has invested time, effort and, most importantly, faith into a defendant who came into his court with a drug-related conviction.

Shay Fleenor once stood before Winters as a man with a criminal past and ongoing substance abuse struggles. On Oct. 6, Fleenor was celebrated in that same courtroom by Winters, his staff and a room full of supporters when he graduated from the DATA Program.

The DATA (Drug Addiction Treatment Alliance) Program, commonly known as Drug Court, is a specialized docket certified by the Ohio Supreme Court which helps defendants with drug or alcohol-related offenses take the steps necessary to find success in sobriety and in life. Drug Court participants must work through four phases of the program, which takes a minimum of 18 months to complete.

Participants encouraged to have jobs, be part of the community

It is a grueling program, and participants graduate with the skills and character to be viably employed and embraced by the community. Fleenor, especially, completed the program with great success.

“He got through the program sanction-free, which is rare,” said DATA Program Coordinator Leah Brookins. “It sounds easy, but it’s not. You have to replace negative behaviors with positive ones, and Shay has done everything we’ve asked and more.”

Winters praised Fleenor at his graduation, echoing Brookins’ comments about the difficulty of the program.

Ottawa County Common Pleas Judge Bruce Winters, right, talks about the many ways Shay Fleenor changed his life during Fleenor’s Oct. 6 DATA Program graduation.

“Shay’s done a great job in our program, and it’s not an easy program,” Winters said. “He’s really been able to change his life in so many ways.”

Fleenor was grateful for the opportunity to participate in Drug Court. He said a probation violation was a low moment in his life that became a turning point that eventually led him to the DATA Program.

“I try to believe everything happens for a reason,” Fleenor said during the graduation. “I’m grateful you guys had faith in me and gave me another chance. I’m glad to be back to the way I used to live. I don’t think things could be better.”

Fleenor applied to be in the Graduate Mentor Program

Winters said Fleenor applied to participate in the Graduate Mentor Program, where Drug Court graduates mentor current participants to help them maneuver through the program successfully.

“One thing that makes me really happy about Shay is he applied to be part of the mentorship program. That’s his commitment to give back to the program by helping those still coming along in it,” Winters said.

The judge told Fleenor his participation in the mentor program was just one way he would have an impact in the community.

“Whether you realize it or not, you’re also going to be a mentor to those around you,” Winters said. “People will look at what you’ve done and say, ‘I can do that, too. I can have a full life.’”

Now that he is on the other side of months of hard work and understands the benefits of Drug Court, Fleenor encourages others in the program to stay committed to it. He said the first phase of the program is the hardest, which requires changes in behavior, schedule, and life focus. The rewards of completing the program were too many for Fleenor to narrow down.

“There are a lot of things — being a different, better person and having a meaningful life, and being at peace, being content,” he said.

Winters told Fleenor that his graduation wasn’t an end. It was a launching pad to a better life.

“You’ll fly on your own, and you know what it takes to stay safe and stay sober,” Winters said. “You’ll have to do things on your own, and you can. You can have this pretty spectacular life you’ve built for yourself, and it will only get better.”

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty atsheritrusty4@gmail.com.