POTTSVILLE -- A nonprofit organization has formed to help motivate Schuylkill County's Drug Treatment Court participants.
Schuylkill County's Drug Treatment Court is about a year old. Ryan Briggs of Frackville is part of the program.
"I wouldn't have put myself in all this treatment that they have us do," Briggs said. "It's a lot of work at the beginning, but I'm 17 months clean now and I can already see that my life is headed in a good direction."
The drug court lasts a minimum of 14 months and has five steps. People arrested for drug-related crimes have the option of joining the drug court class to get back on track and have their charges cleared from their record.
"The program cannot be successful and will not be successful unless we have motivated people that want to become productive members of society again," Schuylkill County District Attorney Mike O'Pake said.
To make this program more appealing to participants, Schuylkill County's district attorney, as well as other members of the community, have formed a non-profit called "CLEAN." CLEAN stands for "Clean Living through Education on Addiction in our Neighborhoods." The nonprofit will accept money from local businesses to help sustain the program. CLEAN already has donations from two banks totaling $7,500. One of those banks was CACL.
"You know, being an essential part of the county, that's what we do," CACL Financial C.O.O. Josh Burgess said. "We give back to the community. That's the most important part for us."
The money will be used to give the drug court participants rewards for completing phases of the programs, such as gift cards or other items they may need to integrate back into society.
"This is the opportunity for people to make a difference and to contribute to this program," D.A. O'Pake said. "To make a tax-exempt donation to CLEAN so that we can keep this program going."
To donate to CLEAN contact Lee Felsburg, the nonprofit's president, by sending him an email a jfelsburg@yahoo.com