On July 17, 2019, three men graduated from the Carbon County Veterans Court. This is the second graduation since the court was established. I’ve been skeptical of specialty courts until witnessing the pride of these three veterans in their accomplishment and the professionalism of Judge Joseph J. Matika, the treatment team and mentors who worked with these veterans to help them on a road to recovery instead of a cell for lockup. It takes a strong person to ask for help but an even stronger person to succeed in recovery, and it takes caring people to give of themselves to help others. We must welcome these graduates back into our communities and give them the opportunity for continued success.

Everyone should attend one of these graduations to witness the hard work, pride, empathy and just the plain caring spirit of everyone coming together to help each other. And lastly, a special thank you to Mylee Rose Hauser, a young lady who provided her personal time to sing various national and military songs. It truly was a very special evening.

Mary Ann Lewellyn

Lehighton