The fourth Fulton County Jail Chemical Addiction Program class graduated on Friday, April 4, at the jail. Graduates included Joe Oliver III and Ryne Carpenter. Shown from left are Fulton County Sheriff Travis Heishman; Fulton County Assistant Jail Commander Marty Ehlinger; JCAP Coordinator Debbie Fernandez; Oliver; JCAP Coordinator Hector Fernandez; Carpenter; and Fulton County Jail Commander Cathi Collins.

Text and Photos
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — One of the Fulton County Jail Chemical Addiction Program’s recent graduates said going through the program has granted him “hope in the future.”

“It’s quite a sense of accomplishment coming from where I’ve come from and what I’ve been through and what I thought my life would be,” Joe Oliver III said.

The fourth Fulton County JCAP class consisting of Oliver and Ryne Carpenter graduated on Friday, April 4, during a ceremony at the jail.

JCAP, which exists in other counties in Indiana, allows inmates who volunteer to join it to address their chemical addictions while taking life skills classes, with service providers helping with both.

Oliver said his future after being released from jail “is going to be helping others in the same way that I’ve been helped.”

He noted what he learned about himself through the 12-week process of JCAP was “I don’t have to be what others expected me to be.”

“I thought I had to live up to expectations that were set upon me as a child, which are no longer there,” said Oliver. “I can be who I want to be.”

Deonte Lyons, who was part of the first Fulton County JCAP class, speaks at the graduation on Friday.

Carpenter said JCAP helped him deal with some trauma.

“It’s very uncomfortable, but (getting) it out there is something that we have to go through if we want to be better,” he said.

Carpenter added he felt “excited” about graduating.

“I’m usually just nervous when I get out of jail, but this time around I’m actually excited,” he said. “I feel like I have people that will be there for me when I get out, and it’s not usually something I do.”

During the ceremony, both men also had time to talk.

Carpenter said he discovered he wanted a better life for himself and his family.

“I knew that in order for this to work I had to ask for help and not only ask for help, but to accept help from other people who at the time were complete strangers to me,” he said.

Oliver said during one session during JCAP he had to think about someone who he wanted to be.

While initially thinking about Deion Sanders or Derek Jeter, Oliver later realized, ‘Why wouldn’t I want to be myself?’ as he also has “good qualities.”

Oliver also reflected on waking up one time during JCAP and thinking: “’Wow, this is what the belly of a whale looks like.’”

Oliver and Carpenter helped design the graphic on shirts they wore at their graduation. The rhino with the curly hair represents Carpenter and the coffee cup represents Oliver.

“I’ve been running from God and from my responsibilities and what God has called me to do, and there was no fear in that and I shed all my fears and I’m excited,” said Oliver. “No matter what the outcome is of my sentencing I’m taking accountability for whatever happens.”

Sessions during JCAP and those helping with it included: First Federal Savings Bank of Rochester; Purdue Extension; Artful Expressions; 4C Health; Warsaw Adult Education; The Cross church of Rochester; the Fulton County Public Library; Snyder Counseling Services Inc.; Faith Outreach Center; Yoga with Aimee Trout; the Fulton County Animal Adoption and Education Center; Tammy Wilson; Melissa Weitzel; Celebrate Recovery Inside; anger management and relapse prevention classes; Narcotics Anonymous; Sandra’s Sweet Cheats; Fulton County Sheriff Travis Heishman and Angie Heishman; and the Church of the Heartland of Rochester.