A rainy day was not enough to keep a celebratory crowd away from Chardon Square July 31, where friends, family, alumni and current members of the Geauga New Leaf program gathered for Joe Gandee’s graduation.
A rainy day was not enough to keep a celebratory crowd away from Chardon Square July 31, where friends, family, alumni and current members of the Geauga New Leaf program gathered for Joe Gandee’s graduation.
The event was held in tandem with a Rockin’ With Resources event, at which over 30 community organizations dedicated to addiction recovery provided information about their services.
The New Leaf program, run through Geauga County Common Pleas Judge Carolyn Paschke’s court, assists participants with addiction treatment and recovery via support from a team of professionals and regular meetings with the judge.
“This program is for you. We see the work you’re putting in. I wanna thank you for showing up, for trying hard and for being honest,” Paschke told program participants in the audience.
One of the strengths of treatment courts is the collaboration and communication between all the professionals who are coming together with the single goal of helping participants improve their lives, she said.
“Our program is very fortunate to have this group of professionals who are always willing to put their heads together, think outside the box and go above and beyond to help our participants succeed,” she said.
Gandee’s brother, Jesse Gandee, was in the program first and asked Paschke if his sibling could be accepted into it, Paschke said.
“As a treatment team, we were faced with a decision regarding whether or not we were going to have siblings in our program,” she said. “We worried. What if one of them stumbled, would it affect the other? Would it be good for the rest of our participants?”
They ultimately decided if Gandee qualified and showed a willingness to participate, they would accept him, she said.
Prior to entering the program, Gandee had an attempted burglary felony case open in Ashtabula County, as well as a handful of municipal court cases. His Geauga case had a five-count indictment of fourth- and fifth-degree felonies on drug trafficking charges.
“By the time he came to our attention in 2023, he had a probation violation in our case and had picked up a new felony offense, possession of heroin, in Lake County. He was sentenced to NEOCAP by (Judge John O’Donnell) in Lake County and he was in NEOCAP when he started our program,” Paschke said, referring to the Northeast Ohio Community Alternative program in Warren.
Gandee did not have a valid driver’s license or vehicle, or a place to live, Paschke said.
Per the program, Gandee went to residential treatment before moving into one of Lake Geauga Recovery Centers’ sober houses in Chardon.
His enthusiasm and helpfulness at a volunteer event for the Ox Shoppe caught the eye of the organizers, who hired him, the judge said.
“During that time, we were able to see him healing. We could see him thinking more clearly and he started to pick up some wins. Joe got his driver’s license and he purchased a vehicle. He also reconnected with some of his family members that were staying away from him when he was actively using,” Paschke said.
Over time, Gandee learned to be less impulsive and worked with a case manager on budgeting and building credit, eventually getting his own apartment, she said.
Gandee’s employment also progressed as he landed a job at Infinity Construction, the company currently building an addition onto the Geauga County courthouse on Chardon Square.
While Infinity Project Superintendent Joe Daugherty was hesitant to hire Gandee at first, he was grateful he did.
“Joe has been probably the most valuable employee that we have in the courthouse right now,” he said.
There is currently a lack of employees in the construction industry, providing an opportunity for others in drug courts who need employment, he said.
“Joe’s going to continue to work for us even after this project,” he added, noting Gandee had never been late to work and never gave excuses.
LGRC counselor Dawn Thomas said Gandee is one of her favorite newcomers.
“He doesn’t want to ruin the opportunity for the next person who wants a chance. He wants to be the one to bring the opportunity to the next person,” she said. “And it doesn’t really get better than that, when you can recognize that your little ripples do matter, you’ll go far.”
Gandee’s uncle, Matt Hopkins, was overflowing with pride last Sunday.
“You have done something truly powerful. You broke a vicious cycle that has affected our family for generations,” he said. “That takes courage, strength, consistent action and a deep kind of love that not a lot of people understand.”
Gandee stood tall in the face of pain and loss and fought for a better future, he said.
“Graduating from drug court is a milestone, yes, but is also a symbol of everything you decided to leave behind and all of the new possibilities ahead of you. This is a fresh start my man,” he said.
Gandee told the crowd he did not take his graduation lightly.
“A miracle is a person who had every reason to give up and didn’t. That’s what I see when I look around at everyone in this program,” he said. “Not because any of us are perfect, not because the road has been easy, but because in a world that often gave up on us, we kept showing up.”
If anyone is wondering if it’s worth it, it is, he said.
“I know it feels hard sometimes. I know there are days where you wonder if it’ll ever get easier. But, the hard days are where the healing happens and every time you don’t pick up, every time you tell on yourself, every time you choose honesty over a high, that’s a miracle in motion,” he said, thanking his case manager, the treatment team, brother, uncle and partner.
“If I can do this, everybody can do this,” Gandee said.
