FROM THE BOTTOM TO THE TOP
by Brooke Ezzo | photos courtesy of Cassie Samons
M
otivation to be and do better comes in all forms. You can gain it through daily affirmations written on Post-It Notes on the bathroom mirror, reading self-help books, or talking with friends and family. It can also come from a prison cell wrapped up to look like a rehab facility.
For Justin resident Cassie Samons, it was the latter. Before prison, Cassie went in and out of 10 treatment centers. The rehabilitation only working for a short time. “I had been clean for years, but when I had a C-section, they pumped me with all kinds of narcotics, and the cravings just took back over,” Cassie said. “Tarrant County, where I lived at the time, had no mercy. They didn’t care if I had a husband and four kids, one being a new baby.” On June 25, 2010, Cassie turned herself into the county. Three days later, she was transported to SAFP (pronounced safe p).
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A day, she says, she’ll never forget. For the next seven months, Cassie would spend every day determined to transform her life. “It was called rehab, but it really wasn’t,” Cassie said. “The guards got in your face and yelled at you. It was the worst.” SAFP is part of the state’s Substance Abuse Treatment Program run by the Rehabilitation Programs Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. The program is supposed to provide different treatment options for individuals suffering from substance abuse addiction. And for some, it works. AUGUST 2021 | 35 WEST | 25
