'Blessing In Disguise': Denver Police And Sobriety Court Program Help People Give Back Through Community Service
DENVER (CBS4) - Members of a sobriety court program were cleaning up parks across Denver on Wednesday in order to receive community service hours and pay off part of their fines. The partnership between Denver Police and Denver County Court has helped participants not only fulfill requirements of the law but better themselves and improve their relationships with loved ones.
"It's actually become something that I actually enjoy doing every week," said Alexander Milstein, who was at Washington Park to pick up trash. "It's put my life into perspective, to be honest, starting moving forward, and I have my family back in my life. Things are just going well."
Milstein is in the sobriety court program, completing community service, but says he enjoys it so much that he will continue to volunteer when he completes the requirement. He is grateful to have loved ones talking to him again and considers the experience a wake-up call. He has been in recovery for four and half years and he believes he built a more honest and open relationship with family in that time.
"I just really enjoy the fact that you get to know people on personal level, you get treated like a human being instead of just another number," said Melissa Carroll, a mother of four who also participated in the park clean-up event.
"It makes you want to give back to the community and want to participate in these extra things that they provide."
As someone on track to graduate from the program, she hopes to be an active member of their alumni and support others. Carroll says she will celebrate three years sober in December and believes the program not only helped her with mental health challenges but made her a better mother.
"I think it was a blessing in disguise to actually get the charges that I got and it's helped me more than anything," she told CBS4.
Participants in the program worked together in three different locations on Wednesday -- Cheesman Park, Washington Park and City Park.
Planning for the event began well in advance, with the partnership starting more than a year ago. It includes Adopt-A-Block events to clean neighborhoods like the Golden Triangle and Lower Downtown. Through the pandemic, they created virtual events where each person cleaned in their own neighborhood and sent photos of themselves working on their own to the group by email.
"I've learned that, you know, I don't need to be doing this because of the courts, I'm doing this because I want to be sober finally, it feels great," Milstein told CBS4. "I finally have my family back in my life and I have all these great people to be around."
The effort between Denver Police and Denver County Court is lead by Officer Teresa Gillian and Lynn Unger from the court system. They know the participants by name and have helped each stay motivated throughout their journey.
"If you reach out, they'll be willing to talk to you. I know that in the past I've turned to drinking when I didn't reach out and that's one of the biggest changes I've made so far," Milstein said. "You can say words all day and it doesn't mean anything, your actions speak louder than words."
