Courage is needed to step up and confess to a life mistake, and even more courage is needed to correct that mistake.

That’s what Shellie Poindexter, 43, of Sallisaw is doing. She has admitted her mistake — addiction to drugs — and taken charge of her life by controlling the addiction and enrolling in college.

Poindexter said she has been helped so much by the counselors at Eagle Ridge Institute, through the Sequoyah County Drug Court Program, that she also wants to become a counselor, and has chosen sociology and psychology as her majors.

Applying for college was a major step, Poindexter said.

“I walked up to the college and asked if it was too late to enroll,” Poindexter said. “I knew I wanted to go to school, but I was afraid I was too late for enrollment. When they said it wasn’t too late, I was excited.”

Poindexter was so excited she called the counselor with whom she has become close, Vicki White.

White said, “She was bubbling over with excitement.”

Poindexter said after her first two days of classes last week, “I love it, especially humanities and American government.”

Poindexter, who works at a local convenience store, is taking 12 hours and is receiving financial aid to further her education and reach her career goal as a drug and alcohol counselor.

White is one of the counselors at Eagle Ridge Institute, which provides treatment for the Drug Court program in Sequoyah County. White said Poindexter will make an excellent counselor.

White said, “She has a gift for communication. She is an inspiration to everybody in the program. She already listens to the others in the program. She gives good advice. They see she wants sobriety and she inspires them.”

The Drug Court program, instituted and overseen by Special District Judge Dennis Sprouse in Sallisaw, gives convicted and admitted drug and alcohol abusers a second chance. If they remain drug free, and cooperate with the court and parole officers and the Eagle Ridge Institute treatment counselors, they may become productive members of society without having spent time in jail. If not, their assignment to the Drug Court program is revoked, and they go to jail.

And Poindexter said, “Prison doesn’t help. Prison doesn’t do anything. And there are drugs in prison.”

The Descent

Poindexter, who said she spent years involved in law enforcement in Oklahoma and Arkansas, said she began using methamphetamines after a relationship in which she was involved dissolved.

Her neighbors in Fort Smith had drugs available and Poindexter said she turned to them in search of relief. And her descent began.

“I used it and I just got caught up in it,” Poindexter said. “I gave up law enforcement for drugs. It has no barriers.

“I have been in trouble since 2000,” Poindexter admitted. “I have been in prison twice.”

Prison has no answers for drug and alcohol abusers and offers no tools to survive their onslaught again when the abuser is released, Poindexter said.

In her last drug-induced confrontation, Poindexter said she came home to find that law enforcement had served a search warrant at her home to look for drugs. She was accused of having methamphetamines and paraphernalia.

“I wasn’t home at the time,” she recalled. “I found the warrant on the television. I just grabbed it and ran.”

Poindexter knew she was in trouble, and she boarded an airplane to avoid that confrontation. On that airplane, she said, “There was just the fact that I knew I couldn’t continue to run. I was actually running to take the time to figure out what to do.”

Still flying on an airplane, Poindexter said she called a friend whom she knew had a connection to Judge Sprouse and Drug Court.

“I told her if she could get me in Drug Court, I would come back and surrender myself,” Poindexter said.

The friend called back with good news, and Poindexter was back on her way to Sallisaw, where she surrendered to police and she was ordered to Drug Court by Judge Sprouse. She credits him for her second chance.

“He knew I had been in law enforcement,” she said. “I think he wanted me to have another chance.”

The events which lead Poindexter to Drug Court and a new life occurred only one year ago, in August 2009.

“One year ago,” she said, “I would never have dreamed I would be here where I am today.

“There’s a new woman emerging, and I like her. I believe God created me.”

Poindexter and White explained there are two parts to Drug Court. The law enforcement end, which requires that participants be tested for drugs and alcohol, and which requires participants to attend 90 Narcotics Anonymous (NA) meetings in 90 days, then attend three NA meetings a week.

“It’s like a checks and balances system,” Poindexter explained. “You get sanctioned if you’re hot, meaning for negative behavior or are caught with alcohol or drugs.”

The treatment end of Drug Court is contracted for with the Eagle Ridge Institute.

Poindexter explained, “The treatment side is Eagle Ridge. The counseling gives you tools. You learn about addiction and how to get away from it.

“It’s a wonderful opportunity if you want to get clean and sober, and become a productive member of society.“

Poindexter said participants meet with counselors in groups and in one-on-one meetings. Classes are held for women, for men, on life issues, on parenting, on coping skills and on self-esteem. Many women, she noted, have little self-esteem.

“They don’t know their value or their worth,” she said.

“It is good because you get the opportunity to learn a lot of things. The counselors have a different style of working with you.”

Poindexter said, “I feel like I’ve gone through certain circles in life. You have choices. The paths I’ve taken were not where I wanted to be. Where I’m at now is where God wants me to be. You always have to get to the very bottom before you can look up.”

Poindexter said Judge Sprouse meets with the participants twice a month for guidance and praise.

“He’s a fair and very just man,” she said. “He’s very compassionate.”

But, she added with a chuckle, “When he takes his glasses off, it’s not a good thing.”

Drug Court treatment has five phases which participants work through, and at the present time has about 70 participants, White said.

Poindexter said the counselors are extraordinary and include White, Tonya Stephens, Tina Edwards, Samantha Compton, Marcie Jones and Jeff Hodges, the Drug Court officer.

“They are always very encouraging,” she said.

But the true path to recovery lies with the participant.

“You really do have to want it,” Poindexter stressed. “If it’s something you really, really want, you can do it. I can’t say how grateful I am that Drug Court is available.”

Now Poindexter said she handles stress with what she has learned in Drug Court, and with prayer, knowing right from wrong, and doing it. She also credits her family and her church family at the Sallisaw Church of Christ for giving her the strength and tools to overcome her addiction.

“Shellie,” White said, “is an inspiration to all of us. When people get to know her, they know there is hope.”

Poindexter said of White, “She’s the ‘er.’ She’s the hugger; the mother; the nurturer; the crier.

“I now that God brought her to Eagle Ridge for a reason, but I believe that He brought her here just for me.

“She is such an inspiring, wonderful Christian woman.”

Poindexter said the program is “a springboard to get your life focused again. Abstinence means not using drugs, but recovery means abstinence and not wanting to do it any more. You have to work on recovery. You have to work on it and want it.”

Poindexter concluded, “Oh yeah, I want it. I will have it. I want to be a counselor in Drug Court, and give back to my community as well.”