Success requires investment, and a number of people have invested their time and energy in the Jail Chemical Addiction Program to see the first group graduate Thursday.

The seven graduating women received numerous certificates for their efforts in completing JCAP, while sharing laughs and tears with those who helped get them through the program.

JCAP participants are separated from others in the Kosciusko County Jail population and are expected to spend at least 90 days in cognitive, behavioral therapy. Social workers conduct group and individual counseling.

In August the county received an $87,800 grant from the Indiana Drug Enforcement Association to establish JCAP through a contract with the Bowen Center.

In October, the women were hand-selected to participate in the program, having shown an interest in making positive changes in their lives and their futures.

There are 12 women in the program, with seven graduating Thursday –  Mary Avery, Brandy Black, Taylor Brandon, Bethany Dixon, Treesa Metz, Kacynda Northrup and Shanda Spacy.

During Thursday’s ceremony, Sheriff Kyle Dukes said he was getting weekly and monthly updates about JCAP even before he took office as sheriff Jan. 1. On his first day Jan. 1, he met the JCAP team.

“But I wanted this team to know there’s a lot of people in Kosciusko County that were supporting you guys. And there’s a lot of people in Kosciusko County that were praying for you guys, and I wanted you guys to know that,” Dukes told the graduates.

In his first two months as sheriff, he said he introduced people to the team.

“There was one person who stood out who came to you guys. ... (county auditor) Michelle Puckett. She came in and talked to you guys. Michelle came in and just took over. ... She came in to the JCAP team and that motherly instinct just came out. She gave advice, encouragement, she told her life story. And, ladies and gentlemen, there wasn’t a dry eye in the room,” Dukes said, adding that Puckett’s investment in JCAP made an impact on the women’s lives.

Puckett told the women, “We are here to help you, support you and to serve. And you’re going to hear a lot of naysayers, you’re going to have a lot of people that are going to doubt you and your ability and your heart. You guys have to make a choice  for you, but just know we support you 100 percent and we are here to serve you and help you to be successful.”

Dukes congratulated the women on completing the program, telling them they’ve worked very hard and they’ve got to keep fighting. “You have a team before you. You’ve got the support. You’ve got to keep fighting because we are. We are. We’re going to do everything we can for JCAP,” he said, noting that they had the support of the sheriff’s department, prosecutor’s office, probation, community corrections and more.

“I’m going to do everything I can, everything I personally can, to fight with you,” he said.

Dukes then brought up Courtney Jenkins, coordinator and a volunteer from SMART Recovery, a nonprofit organization that provides assistance to individuals seeking abstinence from addictions.

“Courtney is the mother figure for right here. She fights for you guys daily,” Dukes said, thanking Jenkins for her investment.

One of the graduates, in tears, told Jenkins, “We want to thank you, too, because of you – someone who fought for us and gave us hope – we made it.”

Jenkins, trying to hold back her own tears, said, “It’s not just me. All of these women who come in, they are all mother figures. They all care so deeply. When I talk  with them, I am so impressed. ... I am so grateful to be a part of it.”

She said JCAP is important to the community, the participants and to the participants’ families.

Dukes then talked about the needs of the program to keep it going.

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“I need an organization, I need two organizations, I need 10 organizations to come forward. I need Courtney to get paid. I need a full-time paid coordinator. I’ve been down every avenue there is for funding almost, and I keep getting shut down. I need help. I need a full-time coordinator and I need space,” Dukes said. “When I say I have hundreds of men in jail, I get bombarded by letters (asking) ‘Sheriff, please, please give it to us, let us do this program.’ So the next round of eight to 10 people will be the males. We can make a huge difference in Kosciusko County on drug addiction. We’re going to do it.”

Different organizations and people then presented program completion certificates to the graduates.

Chalisa Jensen, Beaman Home outreach program manager, presented the seven graduates with three certificates each for effective communication, co-dependency classes and narcotics anonymous classes.

Jenna Jones, Bowen Center, presented them with certificates for successfully completing two substance abuse programs in four months. “They have put in the hard work and effort to ensure their sobriety, to learn skills and adapt them to their own lives that will ensure that when they are ready and graduate this program, they will be ready for the outside. They’ve created a new life for themselves,” she said.

New Life Christian Church Pastor John Lowe told the women, “What we’re going to make sure of is you’re not alone. This whole program, and everybody here, has come along and said we’re not going to leave you. We’re here for the duration. ... You belong and we love you.”

He also told them, “We hope that our time, all of us, the investment that we’re giving, says to you that they love you and we love you as well.”

Volunteers from the church assisted the women with spiritual guidance and taught them life skills. They also presented the graduates with certificates.

Before presenting the graduates with parenting certificates, Diane Shoppell, with Before 5, said the women are “terrific” and “special” and want to make a difference with their kids and themselves.

Peggy Owens, Kosciusko County Jail Ministry assistant chaplain, presented the women with leadership certificates.

Shelly Metzger provided the women with fitness instruction during JCAP and presented them with certificates Thursday. Special certificates were given to Black for a “planking” contest and to Avery for thinking forward in her recovery. She said Avery wants to serve other people, and when Avery goes on from the jail to prison she wants to help bring one person to Jesus Christ.

Jenkins presented the women with SMART Recovery certificates. “They’ve all been amazing, really amazing. I’ve seen the transformation in these girls,” she said. “... They are different. They are different in the way that they talk, in the way that they carry themselves. They have a confidence that they didn’t have before this, and I couldn’t be prouder.”

The women then presented Jenkins with “The Boss” certificate for all that she’s done for them. “She’s just so amazing. She’s just fought so hard for us girls,” Dixon said. The other women told Jenkins that they loved her and they couldn’t have completed the program without her.

JCAP completion certificates were then presented, followed by Kosciusko County Council President Sue Ann Mitchell and several councilmen recognizing the women and their achievement.

“We are so incredibly proud of you girls being our first class to finish (JCAP),” Mitchell said. “... Your success is going to prove to others that we can make a success of this program. ... We all want the very, very best for each and every one of you.”