Drug court graduates take different paths, same result
Judge Joseph Bueltel, right, congratulates Steele/Waseca Drug Court graduate Cole Roushar, center, as he accepts his plaque marking the accomplishment. John McCollum, left, also graduated from drug court; the celebration was held March 25 in front of their family, friends and drug court peers. Staff photo by Kay Fate
John McCollum can laugh about it now, but there didn’t seem to be a female in his life who believed he would succeed in drug court.
From the program coordinator to his boss’s wife to his best friend’s girlfriend, they doubted he would stick with it.
“John was pretty frank,” said Nicole Grams, coordinator of the Steele/Waseca Drug Court.
“He’s been in prison multiple times – but that doesn’t really help him develop any good resources or lifestyles for life. He’s made more progress in the last four years than he ever had sitting in a jail cell or a prison cell,” she said.
The remarks came during drug court graduation on March 25, honoring McCollum and Cole Roushar, the program’s 124th and 125th graduates.
Grams told the crowd she tried multiples times to help McCollum clean up his criminal cases so he could enter drug court, with little luck, so she was surprised to hear that he had gone to a treatment facility – and stayed.
“He was still there,” she said. “John reminds me of that every single month when he comes to drug court: ‘You said I wasn’t going to make it. You said I was going to take off.’”
McCollum had good reason to want to succeed; failure meant a return to prison to serve a nine-year sentence. He admitted that before his acceptance into drug court, he used drugs, sold drugs and committed other crimes. He had no stable job or home.
“I’ve ruined a lot of friendships and relationships with my family,” McCollum said, though he also struggled with the stability of drug court initially.
Being held accountable, however, allowed him to get his driver’s license, build positive relationships in the sobriety community, complete all the drug court recommendations and learn how to set boundaries with others.
“It’s been a long road,” McCollum said, “and I know I can do this. I have a job that I love, and I can reach out to my boss when I am emotionally struggling. My goals are to remain law-abiding and sober, complete probation and be a productive member of society.
“Also, I’ve learned that it’s not so bad when law enforcement pulls me over now,” he laughed.
Kate Hendrickson, a therapist and licensed drug and alcohol counselor at Spero, spent a lot of time with McCollum.
“There was a day when I was sitting in my office, and all of a sudden, law enforcement showed up,” she said. “John decided to push a button” that he didn’t recognize – which was an alarm to summon authorities.
“I was like, ‘oh, boy. John’s going to keep me on my toes’ – and he did, but in a good way,” Hendrickson said.
Multiple family members were there for the graduation, as well as friends and coworkers.
Ellie and Brent Freerksen own Apex Pro Kwik Lube in Owatonna, where McCollum works.
“When John first came to us, I thought, ‘absolutely not, we will not hire him,’” Ellie Freerksen said, drawing laughs. “From day one, I was like, ‘there’s no way this guy’s going to last.’ Then you surprised me. I don’t think you’ve ever been late to work … you always show up, you go above and beyond, anytime I need you to.
“We’re just very, very proud of you,” she said.
It was a sentiment repeated over and over to both McCollum and Roushar, especially from their peers in the program.
Roushar’s path was perhaps less dramatic, but no less successful.
“Cole came to us in a very different predicament,” Grams said. “He came to us on a probation violation for a gross misdemeanor DWI.” The most serious punishment would be about nine months in jail – not the lengthy prison terms some participants have hanging over their heads.
“So I have a real firm conversation,” she said, about holding them to the same high standards as everyone else in the program.
Roushar went to treatment; when he returned, “he suddenly made progress continuously all the way through our program,” Grams said, completing the five phases in less than two years.
When Hendrickson first met him, Roushar was nursing some broken ribs, “and slowly but surely, you got over those bumps. I feel like you had a switch that flipped, and (realized) ‘now it’s time to grow up and take this seriously.’
“You’ve had a lot of big changes in a short period of time,” Hendrickson said, including finding fulltime work and his own home. “It’s been super exciting to see.”
For his part, Roushar said he “knew that I needed to make some serious changes in my life, or I would be back in jail.”
The decline was gradual, he said.
“The more I used drugs and drank, the more I noticed the things of my life were going in the wrong direction,” he said. That included losing his job, pushing away family and friends, letting bills go unpaid.
“I knew I needed to be held accountable,” Roushar said, “so I asked for drug court, because I wasn’t sure what else I was going to be able to do to become sober.”
It was more difficult than he expected, he admitted, but landing a good job, getting his driver’s license back and a stable place to live were all worth it.
“I don’t have to worry about failing drug tests or lying about what I’ve been doing or where I’ve been,” Roushar said. “It’s been a lot of work, but it is definitely what I needed to take back control of my life.”
He knows the improvement will continue, and the support is always there.
“I don’t have to do this alone,” Roushar said, “and I no longer feel ashamed of the person that I am.”
After receiving their graduation plaques and coins, the graduates had some advice for the people still working toward their own completion of drug court.
“Don’t give up,” McCollum said.
“You guys can do it,”Roushar said. “You’ve got this.”