Three Generations Impacted by District Court Initiative

In January of 2025, Misty, 51, was referred to the Smart Justice District Court Initiative (SJDCI) in Johnson County. She was struggling in multiple areas of life including employment, finances, transportation, education, mental and physical health. 

She was very proud of her 11 years of sobriety—until she began testing positive for substances while on probation. Though she believed she was hiding her relapse, her substance use quickly surfaced and became the primary driver of the crises unfolding in other areas of her life. 

Shortly before agreeing to treatment, Misty reached the lowest point of her life—an experience she would not share until after completing the initiative. Facing homelessness, unemployment, and the full weight of her substance use disorder, she attempted to take her own life. Thankfully, she was unsuccessful. In that moment, she later shared, she heard the Navigator’s words echo in her mind: “I’m always here for you, no matter what. You can always call me.” 

That's exactly what she did next. This was the biggest turning point in her life.  

After reaching out to her Court Coordinator, Misty checked herself into Harvest House, a rehab and transitional living facility in Gurdon, AR. This gave her 24-hour support with her mental health and recovery, immediate employment, group and individual counseling, and for the first time in her life she was introduced to Jesus. She had never been a believer of God, but that changed quickly and she was baptized around a month after arriving. 

During her time at Harvest House, she kept in contact with the Navigator and Supervision Officer and continued being promoted through the tiers of SJDCI based on the overwhelming progress she was making. 

She completed the initiative on 11/19/25 having obtained full time employment, created a budget and savings. She paid off two different amounts of outstanding restitution, and gained SNAP benefits. She was able to obtain health insurance, which allowed her to address various health issues she had been battling, as well as find stability for her mental health.

She now has 9 months of sobriety and is working on a transition plan from Harvest House into her own home. 

After her completion of the initiative, the Navigator performed an exit interview and asked her what she was most proud of in her life today.

"You actually saved my life and gave me my life back," Misty recalls. "I'm a person that I love today. You don't realize how many lives were saved in this process. I have a relationship with my kids now which also gives me a relationship with my grandkids. There's a total of 19 lives that have been saved because of me having this opportunity. Three generations of people got to be impacted because of being able to get my life back on track with this initiative."

The Navigator and SJDCI team have repeatedly remarked on the life change that Misty has had. She is quite literally not the same person that first entered the initiative. She has pride, self-confidence, belief in herself, and understands her worth and value more than ever before.