File photo by Matt Hamilton/Daily Citizen-NewsRichard Morgan kisses his daughter Sydney Grace Morgan during his graduation ceremony from the Conasauga Drug Court. The 15th anniversary celebration of the court will be held Tuesday.

DALTON, Ga. — For most of her teen years, Emily Hixon described herself as a “functioning” addict who got high on pills and then began moving into meth. It was then, she says, that she was no longer functioning — not with her family, with her work or her life.

“I completely lost myself,” Hixon said. “I was homeless, I had no car, no where to go and I gave my entire life up for drugs.”

Her addiction ruined her relationship with her parents and her children and turned her into a criminal who stole to find her next fix. Finally arrested and sitting in jail for three months, she turned to the Conasauga Drug Court for a way out.

“In the beginning, there was absolutely no hope for a future,” Hixon said. “I was tired of being who I was. Now, I have hope. I have a job and I want to go back to college. I have a place to live and I am paying my bills. I am working on my relationship with my parents and working on getting my daughters back. All of it is because of the program.”

Hixon, 24, is one of many throughout the area who will be celebrating the 15th anniversary of the establishment of the court. A ceremony and celebration will be held Tuesday at 6 p.m at Rock Bridge Community Church’s Stage 123 in downtown. The public is invited, and Judge Jack Partain, who retired from Superior Court last year and served as the original judge over the drug court, will also be honored.

For those like Hixon and the others who came before the bench of the court, it is a worthy celebration of a needed program.

“To be one hundred percent honest and not to sound like a cliché, but I am almost willing to bet I would probably be dead right now if it weren’t for the drug court,” said 30-year-old Matthew Dyer. “Definitely in prison, but more than likely I would be dead.”

Dyer said going through the drug court program hasn’t been easy and has been a long process filled with both successes and failures. He has been in the program since June 26, 2014, and is still working to complete all of the program’s requirements.

“People who don’t understand addiction, I could not quit on my own,” Dyer said. “Even knowing that I was killing myself, I couldn’t quit. It is only through my recovery that I have my job, my family and a relationship. I really have to thank God for pretty much chasing me down and knocking me over the head.”

He said that his 10-year-old son has been his inspiration throughout the process and he wants to truly be a father to the boy.

“In my addiction, I have indirectly exposed him to some of the same things I experienced as a child,” Dyer said. “My son is still young, and I want to be a better role model and better example to break that cycle and hope that he makes better decisions. But it is a hard program. It is not easy.”

Program director Don Hoffmeyer said it isn’t supposed to be easy.

“One thing we have done over the years is make it a more therapy-driven program. And it is much more intense,” Hoffmeyer said. “It is much more difficult and intense. It is the most difficult program I know of, and we don’t make any apologies about that. Our people work.”

That work includes group meetings, community service and accountability. But mostly, it’s work on an individual level of complete and total change.

“I’ve been in the program for three years now, and it is one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life,” said Nathan Payne, who recently spoke to high school students at the Teen Maze program. “All I ever knew was to be in everything for myself. I have changed my attitude a lot and I like to give back because I am free of my addiction. I know it lurks around every corner, but I have the tools to overcome that now thanks to the program.”