The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Veterans Treatment Court lauds graduates
The Lorain County Veteran’s Treatment Court continued its work in honoring its 30th graduate Sept. 30.
Kyle Hunter, 32, of Brooklyn Heights, graduated from the program which pairs veterans with a team of mentors.
The program initiated by Lorain County Probate Judge James T. Walther in 2016 provides veterans with an alternative to incarceration by offering treatment, accountability and structure and connecting them to services.
Hunter thanked his mentor U.S. Army veteran Dan Gillotti for all the heartfelt support and for being there and doing what needed to be done.
In addressing other veterans in the program, Hunter shared a word of advice.
“Your character is the essence of who you are,” he said. “And that will always be; you can’t change that.
“The decisions we make are based on personality and our time and place in life. And through what
we’ve been through, that changes your personality and your decisions become out of character.
“So, just remember that the content of your character is your essence and that will never change.”
U.S. Marine Corps veteran Clifton Oliver, a 2017 graduate of the program, served as guest speaker and encouraged veterans to keep going.
“Don’t give up; this isn’t the ending point,” Oliver
said. “You know, this is your saving grace between here and what it could possibly be . ... So, take advantage of this time that you have and make somebody else’s life better. You’ll find yourself in the service of helping others.”
Walther said he first encountered the idea for the program at a conference in 2012 and was able to bring it to Lorain County where it held their first graduation in June 2016.
“There’s a big dispute of whether or not the term graduation is appropriate for what it is we’re doing here, because graduation signifies the end of something,” he said. “And as you can clearly see from Clifton’s (Oliver) speech, is that he used his graduation as the beginning to something else.”
Out of 33 participants, 30 have graduated from the 16-month program.
“I love veterans and I want every single one of the veterans to come up here and stand up here,” Walther said. “Just like Clifton Oliver, did just like Mike Federici (a former graduate) did, just like Kyle Hunter’s going to do.”