Courtney's Story: 23 Felonies Dismissed

She sat in a jail cell, dope sick, staring at a stack of paperwork that listed 23 felony drug charges next to her name.

Twenty-three.

Courtney knew she didn't want to keep living the way she'd been living. But she also didn't want to put in the work to change. That's the brutal honesty of addiction. You can hate where you are and still not have the strength to move.

The Escalation Nobody Plans

Courtney grew up in a small town in North Carolina. Loving home. Neither parent touched drugs. The kind of family that should have been a buffer against everything that came next.

She started smoking weed at 13. Recreational, she told herself. When harder stuff came around, she turned it down. She had her limits. She knew where the line was.

Until she didn't.

By 18, she was trying other things. Spice. Pain pills here and there. At 21, Percocet had its hooks in her. She thought that was her rock bottom. Then someone introduced her to heroin.

"After doing heroin for about 6 months, I wanted to try more and more," Courtney recalls. "So then came the cocaine, molly, meth. Pretty much anything and everything."

That's how addiction works. It never stays where you put it. The line you swore you'd never cross becomes the starting point for the next line you swear you'll never cross. And then that one moves too.

The Bottom

Twenty-three felony charges. All drug-related. Sitting in a cell, body screaming for a fix, mind spinning with the weight of what she'd done to her life.

Her mom found Teen Challenge.

Courtney calls what happened next a miracle. Not because it was easy. Because it shouldn't have worked. She walked in not wanting to put in the effort. She walked out transformed.

"During my time in Teen Challenge, I learned how to live a life without drugs, respect myself and others, and I grew an intimate relationship with God."

That last part matters most. The program gave her structure. The community gave her accountability. But it was the relationship with God that rewired something deeper than behavior. It gave her a reason to stay changed.

Life Now

Courtney graduated in June 2019. Since then, every single one of those 23 felony charges has been dismissed.

Let that sink in. The legal system looked at her record, looked at her life, and wiped it clean. That doesn't happen by accident. That's restoration that only God orchestrates.

She rebuilt her relationship with her parents. Rebuilt trust with her family. Found a job she's proud of. Became, in her words, "a productive member of society."

"If it weren't for the grace of God and the support of my family, I wouldn't be where I am today," Courtney says. "All it takes is hard work and dedication, and the result will be better than you can ever imagine."

She's not naive. She knows the work it took. But she also knows she didn't do it alone. The God who met her in that jail cell is the same God who walks with her now.

Want to learn more?

What Is Teen Challenge? - Understand how the program works and what to expect.

Get Help for Your Family - If you're ready to explore options, we're here to walk with you.

Read Shane's Story - Another life transformed through faith-based recovery.