25 Aug 2014 Bethlehem House resident receives drug court award

Bethlehem House resident Shay Brown recently received the Character Achievement Award from the Faulkner County Drug Court.

The award was presented by Judge Charles E. Clawson Jr. who oversees the court. “This is an award given quarterly to drug court participants that show good character qualities both in and out of the program,” said drug court counselor Katy Stark  “The award is given in honor of a past drug court participant that died from leukemia while he was in our program. He exhibited a positive attitude, even while going through the stress of working a recovery program and going through his illness and diagnosis. After his passing, we wanted to come up with an award in memory of him.”

The Character Achievement Award has been given 27 times since its inception in 2007.

“Shay was given the award for displaying a positive attitude, being a good example to others in the program, providing positive feedback to other clients, being respectful to others and demonstrating patience and perseverance in her program,” said Stark.

“We are very proud of Shay,” said Bethlehem House Executive Director Judi Lively. “She came to Bethlehem House ready to totally change her life and she’s doing it! She has been sober for nine months, has shown great growth in maturity, has an excellent attitude and is determined to become self-sufficient.”

Bethlehem House is a transitional shelter in Conway that seeks to encourage, equip and motivate homeless and nearly homeless individuals and families to take the necessary steps to improve their life situations.