CAIRO, Ga. — Concerned residents filled the Vanlandingham Center on Tuesday evening for a town hall meeting hosted by Drug Free Grady that featured a panel of recovering addicts and experts.

The primary topic of the meeting was overcoming addiction, and throughout the event the members of the panel, facilitated by Celebrate Recovery director Eric Walden, related their own personal and professional experiences concerning the difficulties they faced in achieving that goal.

“It’s a battle that you never win,” said Walden, himself a recovering addict who is now a member of the board of directors of Drug Free Grady. “It’s something that I’ll fight for the rest of my life.”

One of the panelists was Emily Harvey, a 24-year-old recovering addict who first used drugs when she started smoking marijuana in high school before she eventually began experimenting with methamphetamine at 16.

Drugs quickly dominated Harvey’s life and they took a personal toll, alienating her from her family and young daughter for several years.

“The person that drugs had made me become was disgusting,” she said. “Even though I know I’m not that person anymore, it’s still hard for me to accept the things that I had done and lowered my standards to and thought (were) OK.”

Harvey’s path to recovery began when she started contemplating the negative impact her lifestyle had on the people who loved her.

“I didn’t want to be that woman anymore,” she said. “I didn’t want 20 years to pass me by and to be known to my daughter as this drug addict.”

When Harvey was eventually locked up for two months her primary concern was to do whatever was needed to get back home, and she was court-ordered to participate in a drug recovery program.

In her own words, the drug court program saved her life, and for the first time in years Harvey had a healthy support system.

Aside from building friendships with fellow recovering addicts who could empathize with her struggle, Harvey said she has a therapist who roots for her successes and a judge who is invested in seeing her graduate from the program.

Harvey is now employed and is a full-time student working on a business degree on top of being a mother.

With classes twice a week, therapy three times a month, drug court twice per month and support meetings twice each week, Harvey said she’s so busy that she simply doesn’t have time to get high anymore.

“Don’t get me wrong though, I’ll be quick to ride out to a (Narcotics Anonymous) or Celebrate Recovery meeting,” she said.

Jami Lewis, a criminal defense attorney and legal expert, is experienced in dealing with the drug court program that Harvey attributes to her recovery, having represented thousands of clients in Grady County and across south Georgia.

But whether drug recovery is court-ordered or not, Lewis said an individual’s success in kicking their addiction depends on their own personal desire to get better.

“The bottom line is that unless you’re ready to take that help, you’re just going to be right back in front of us again,” she said.

As a result, Lewis said she probably has more stories of failure than success, but that “the success stories make you feel so good that it’s worth going through the failures.”

In Grady County, the drug court program is typically 18 months and consists of attending weekly meetings for several hours and meeting with a judge twice per month.

The program is usually sentenced upon the condition of its completion, and there is generally a suspended prison sentence that goes into effect if an individual fails.

Lewis said the program is based on accountability and can be a good fit for addicts ready to begin their recovery.

“It’s about being accountable to yourself, to the court, to your family and to your employers, your children, everybody,” she said.

Other options for recovery include private and prison-run rehabilitation, but those aren’t the only paths for addicts and their families.

Cathy Stanaland, an addiction and recovery resource advocate who is also a Drug Free Grady board member, runs several faith-based rehabilitation facilities.

Stanaland said she often receives requests from friends and families of addicts asking her to “fix” their loved ones’ problems, but has to douse their hopes of an easy recovery.

“I’m not in the fixing business,” she said. “I can’t fix that addict. The only person who can fix that addict is that addict.”

Nola Daughtry, Drug Free Grady chair, said the event was not just for addicts, but also for their loved ones to learn how to get help when they see troubling signs of addiction.

While the panelists emphasized that every addict’s path to recovery is different, they each said one of the major aspects is a change in attitude that leads to the ability to recognize the root of their problems.

As a criminal defense attorney, Lewis said she’s seen addicts hit rock bottom before and has noticed that discovering religion often plays a big role in recovery.

“You’d be surprised how many people find Jesus when they get to jail,” she said. “You’ll even think Jesus lives in a jail, honestly.”

Chris Maples, a recovering addict, said everyone’s story of how they became clean is unique, but added that he did notice one constant element.

“The one thing that we’ve all got in common is Jesus,” he said. “We all go to church.”