DRUG COURT VOLUNTEERS HELP BUILD HOMES

HICKORY -- A crowd of hot and sweaty volunteers clapped and cheered
at the house blessing and dedication ceremony Saturday.

The Thompson family stood on their new front porch thanking the
people who had worked with the Catawba Valley Habitat for Humanity to
make their dream of home ownership a reality. The crowd included
several groups - volunteers from area Lutheran churches, Americorps
volunteers, Habitat officials and people in a recovery program for
addiction.

Reva Cook is the drug treatment court director for the 25th Judicial
Court District and Saturday she brought a group of 14 people to help
build houses in Phase II of the Blue Sky Acres subdivision - a loop
of 18 homes with more on the way off of Robinson Road, south of Hickory.

The volunteers from the Supervision Treatment Accountability and
Recovery program are a diverse group that includes students, X-ray
technicians and construction workers. Their goal was to help others
in their community.

They arrived at the job site at about 8:30 a.m. and spread out to
apply their talents. Some worked on clean-up duty while others dug
the footers to prepare a new site's foundation. District Court Judge
Amy Sigmon volunteered with the group.

"We helped wherever they needed us," she said.

Twenty to 30 people are enrolled in the recovery program because
they've come into contact with law enforcement due to their
addictions. Cook said this is the first time they've worked with
Habitat, but it won't be the last.

She said they all thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

"There are a lot of talented, gifted people who are in recovery that
want to give back to their community," Cook said.

The people enrolled in the program were convicted of drug-related
crimes and were given the choice of enrolling in the recovery program
for 18 months. During that time they work through a 12-step program
to overcome their addictions. One of the program hallmarks is
anonymity and the participants go by their first names only.

Although tired, they all said they'd enjoyed their
experience.

"I'm just glad we got to come out and do something positive," Alton
said.

His experience framing houses made him comfortable on the job site
and eager to come back and do more. He enjoys the work and said it's
a beneficial way for him to fill his spare time.

Another volunteer named Janie said, "I was dreading it at first, but
it was for a good cause, so I was eager to come out and help."

Curtis agreed, saying, "I appreciate the chance to come out and help
people."

Cook was pleased with the success of her first partnership with
Habitat for Humanity and plans to make volunteering with them a
regular event where STAR participants can volunteer.