KEALAKEKUA — It’s rare when people willingly pack a courtroom to capacity, but such was the case Monday for the Big Island Drug Court’s 35th graduation.
The standing room only crowd was there to support Nanijo Keanini, Gerald Ariola and Brandon Kingsbury-Santiago, all of whom had gone through the intensive series of drug tests, monitoring, therapy and support that comprise the program.
The graduate with the longest path was Keanini, who entered the program with three counts of first-degree bail jumping, third-degree promoting a dangerous drug and four counts of possession of drug paraphernalia. She has cases tracking back to 1999 in circuit court, with even earlier matters in various district courts.
“I was still a baby,” Keanini said of when she began using, an addiction that followed her for more than 20 years and led to prison, which she said “became my vacation time.”
But her entry into drug court led to a major shift in thinking. That included learning how to love and be loved, she said, something she never learned on the streets.
While in the program, she met her partner and the two of them started C and N General Welding. But it wasn’t an easy trip at times, she and the Drug Court members agreed.
During the program, she ran into trouble when her former associates gave her coffee laced with meth. It was a sign that the people from her past did not have her best interests at heart, said Mark Disher, the deputy prosecuting attorney assigned to the program.
“Whatever Big Island Drug Court is doing, she’s always there,” said Grayson Hashida, drug court coordinator.
A series of photos showed Keanini’s physical improvement from the worn-out woman in the mug shot of her arrest to welding and participating in parades.
Judge Melvin Fujino, who presides over the court, said the success of the program comes from a team effort, including interest-free loans provided by the Friends of the Drug Court, local companies hiring members and intensive monitoring by the probation staff. Initially, participants go through drug testing twice per week, a rate that tapers off as they make their way through the program.
“The Big Island Drug Court has provided you the tools and guidance you needed. You’ve proven you can do it,” Fujino told the graduates.
The program is also like a family, said Verna Chartrand, a counselor with the Lokahi Treatment Center.
“When they first come in, they don’t have no family,” Chartrand said.
They develop a sort of family with the drug court staff, she said. The judge acts like a father figure, while the staff acts like siblings, keeping the participants on the straight path.
For all three graduates, family has reemerged as an important part of their lives. Both male graduates became focused on their children and girlfriends, Hashida said, which helped them through.
Keanini recovered with the love of her family as well, she said, as she realized how much she was loved. Seated in the jury box were current members of the program, who are on various stages of completion. They were encouraged by speakers several times, including Keanini.
“If I can do it, all you guys can do it. I’ve been in it forever,” she said.