Rep. Warren, Judge Ohm address Hope Movement
Division 2 District Court Judge Ralph Ohm and state Rep. Les Warren, R-District 25, spoke on the importance of substance abuse programs and reducing recidivism in the county during the 100 Women of Hope luncheon Thursday at Hot Springs Country Club.
The event was a fundraiser for the Hope Movement, a local faithbased substance abuse rehabilitation program for women.
“I think the unique thing about the Hope Movement is it provides a bridge between rehab and real world,” Ohm said. “There’s a big step between being contained in a rehab program where everything is taken care of to actually stepping out in the real world where you actually have to take care of yourself. It is hard to fill that gap. The Hope Movement does that.”
Ohm said he wants the Hope Movement, and all local substance abuse rehabilitation programs, to succeed, thrive and do well because the community “relies on that much more than most people realize.”
He noted these programs have a large impact on the fight against crime.
As a person of faith, Ohm said he likes the religious aspect of the Hope Movement, but it’s not the most important part.
“The thing that I love about the Hope Movement is it is designed to empower people that are having trouble to deal with those issues, conquer those issues, and then rebuild those relationships that will build a strong and lasting recovery,” he said.
“I want to see people out of the judicial system, out of the court system. I want to see people successful. I love to see these people who have struggled come out, do well, get their own jobs, get their own businesses, thrive and become productive members of the
community.”
Ohm said that, as a judge, it’s easy to put people in jail and forget about them, but it takes effort to help a person who is having problems work through those problems and help them rebuild their lives.
“When you see the people who have gone through these processes and are doing well — man, that is the ultimate high as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “Even though there is this overwhelming problem, or issue, every life saved is worth the effort.”
Hope Movement participant Candice Davis gave her personal testimony, saying the movement changed her life by giving her the tools and love she needed.
“The tools I needed as far as getting a job, being responsible, saving money, I got my GED … I didn’t have a driver’s license for 16, 17 years,” she said. “It just shaped me to love myself and be a better person. I had goals, I got my daughter back. It all starts with loving yourself and being around people to just support you and get you through it.”
Davis said the movement gave her a chance to “branch out” and become a strong woman with a “backbone.”
“It’s that whole lifeline of support I have received from them spiritually, emotionally,” she said. “I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the Hope Movement.”
Davis said the support from community members is important to her and other “women of hope.”
“I would have never in a million years thought that I would be sitting at a table with a state representative who really cares to give back, or has the love they have for an addict because they know they can succeed and be a totally different person,” she said. “I’m living proof of that. … That support is big, knowing you have options and you’re not alone.”
Warren said it was important to him to attend because he knows the people who are making the movement count.
He said he worked with Desiree Skeya, the movement’s executive director, through the district court system, noting, “she is phenomenal. Then she decided she was going to take the executive director role here,” he said. “I knew a lot of people who were helping with this, so I decided I would jump at the chance to come speak.”
Warren noted some of the movement’s leaders have “been down the road” of addiction.
“It’s not like we want to help people, but we don’t understand what they’re going through,” he said. “They understand, and other people who have come on to help, they want to empower this program, ministry, in every way they can to make a difference in Garland County.”
Warren said substance abuse is a key issue for Garland County.
“We need people who have been in prison to be rehabilitated,” he said. “We need them to be with their families, we need them working — not going back to prison — (and) we need them off of drugs; this movement is doing just that. Rehabilitating these people so that they don’t go back down the same paths that they’ve been down before, and their kids don’t do that.”
Warren said he thinks the aspect of the movement being dedicated solely to women is important.
“I don’t know if they realize just how powerful they are,” he said. “Women, in large part, raise the kids. They impact their kids, who impact future generations. They have roles in society. I don’t think it’s out of the realm that we’re going to see a woman president one day, and it’s a real possibility that we’re going to see a woman governor one day. So women have a great role and I’m excited to see them stepping up and taking hold of that role and making it everything that it can be.”
Warren awarded Skeya with a plaque recognizing her as a “Woman of Hope.”
“I’m really just speechless,” Skeya said. “The women who House Rep. Les Warren spoke about, to me, are just the epitome of women of hope, and to be in the same category of them was very heartwarming and it was nice.”
Skeya said 106 people attended the event, exceeding their goal of 100, and it was “very nice and overwhelming.”
With every attendee paying a $100 fee, Skeya said all funds raised go to benefit the movement.
“(It goes) back into the ladies for different things, whether that be helping with the fines and fees, helping with the drivers’ licenses, helping them if they want to go to school,” she said.
Skeya said there will be another 100 Women of Hope Luncheon.
LakePointe Church Pastor Greg Bearss said he and his wife, Kristi, founded the Hope Movement in August 2012 when they realized a need in the community to assist women coming out of addiction.
“Coming out of rehab they didn’t have a safe place to live, they didn’t have a safe place to go,” Bearss said. “So we saw a lot of recidivism, them going back into their addiction, because they couldn’t get a job and didn’t have the skills necessary. They were clean from drugs, but they just didn’t have the life skills needed to get in society.”
He said the centerpiece of the movement is Jesus and teaching women how to follow Jesus and live life differently.
“We really believe that the situation we have with addiction, the problems we have with opioid and drugs in our county and in our city, it’s really a problem with the whole city,” Bearss said. “It’s not just for the Hope Movement, it’s not just for churches, it’s not just for the sheriff department or police department; all of us have to rally together.”