Virginia woman completes recovery program just in time to go home for the holidays
HALIFAX COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Going home for the holidays isn't always a possibility for everyone, especially for those serving time for crimes they committed. One woman from the South Boston area of Halifax County just got off probation days before Christmas. Jasmine Lovelace said she can’t wait to see her daughter. "It'll be the first time that I've seen her in a year,” Lovelace said. The South Boston native had been counting down the 365 days until her release from the Chesterfield Women's Detention and Diversion Center. "I am very proud of myself… a lot of people who know me at home would probably say that I wouldn't be able to do it you know. They would never think that I would be at this point. Ten years being a heroin addict is a long time,” Lovelace said. Battling addiction for a decade, Lovelace has been incarcerated on and off again for drug offenses. She hasn't been home for the holidays since 2019. It’s something she said she regrets. "My grandmother is 100 years old, so I don't know how many more Christmases I will have with her you know,” Lovelace said. December can be a triggering month for Lovelace. It was on Dec. 12, 5 years ago that her daughter's father was hit and killed by a car. Then on Dec. 12 last year, Lovelace said she started using drugs again. "I… don't really remember much of that day, I remember I was on the run of course from probation and just that day was a blur, and that's the day I got arrested.” Lovelace was placed in Community Corrections Alternative Program (CCAP). It gives probationers substance abuse treatment, job training, education and therapy. 8News first spoke to Lovelace in October, 10 months into her recovery program, and she was making huge strides. At the time she said, “Enough was just enough for me, I almost lost my own life to multiple overdoses and my daughter has lost daddy, she can't lose mommy, too." Lovelace worked hard and became the team leader for her recovery group called the Sunflowers. She credits CCAP with saving her life and says she knows how to follow rules now. She was able to work at Dairy Queen, save up money and get her forklift and OSHA certifications. In her final week of incarceration, Lovelace got the honor of speaking at her class's graduation, which signaled the completion of her yearlong program. She was free to go just one week before Christmas. And while Lovelace is elated to be off probation and to leave the four walls of the women's facility, she's not alone, there were also 10 women being released. "I've grown a bond with each and every one of them, so they will have a spot in my heart for the rest of my life,” Lovelace said. Her new life is beginning as Lovelace trades in her old Department of Corrections purple shirts for new donated outfits in her favorite color, pink. Her family drove two hours up from South Boston to Chesterfield to pick her up at 6 a.m. Excited to finally be headed home for the holidays and reunited with her 9-year-old daughter, Lovelace is filled with joy. She’s the oldest of four girls and says she’ll also get to meet her sister’s newborn baby. “Getting off of that road and starting a new one is just very refreshing. Christmas to me means family. You look at your past and think about what you could've done, but instead, I feel like you should look at it and think about where you never want to be again," Lovelace said.
VENN
HALIFAX COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Going home for the holidays isn't always a possibility for everyone, especially for those serving time for crimes they committed. One woman from the South Boston area of Halifax County just got off probation days before Christmas.
Jasmine Lovelace said she can’t wait to see her daughter.
"It'll be the first time that I've seen her in a year,” Lovelace said.
The South Boston native had been counting down the 365 days until her release from the Chesterfield Women's Detention and Diversion Center.
"I am very proud of myself… a lot of people who know me at home would probably say that I wouldn't be able to do it you know. They would never think that I would be at this point. Ten years being a heroin addict is a long time,” Lovelace said.
Battling addiction for a decade, Lovelace has been incarcerated on and off again for drug offenses. She hasn't been home for the holidays since 2019. It’s something she said she regrets.
"My grandmother is 100 years old, so I don't know how many more Christmases I will have with her you know,” Lovelace said.
December can be a triggering month for Lovelace. It was on Dec. 12, 5 years ago that her daughter's father was hit and killed by a car. Then on Dec. 12 last year, Lovelace said she started using drugs again.
"I… don't really remember much of that day, I remember I was on the run of course from probation and just that day was a blur, and that's the day I got arrested.”
Lovelace was placed in Community Corrections Alternative Program (CCAP). It gives probationers substance abuse treatment, job training, education and therapy.
8News first spoke to Lovelace in October, 10 months into her recovery program, and she was making huge strides.
At the time she said, “Enough was just enough for me, I almost lost my own life to multiple overdoses and my daughter has lost daddy, she can't lose mommy, too."
Lovelace worked hard and became the team leader for her recovery group called the Sunflowers. She credits CCAP with saving her life and says she knows how to follow rules now.
She was able to work at Dairy Queen, save up money and get her forklift and OSHA certifications.
In her final week of incarceration, Lovelace got the honor of speaking at her class's graduation, which signaled the completion of her yearlong program. She was free to go just one week before Christmas.
And while Lovelace is elated to be off probation and to leave the four walls of the women's facility, she's not alone, there were also 10 women being released.
"I've grown a bond with each and every one of them, so they will have a spot in my heart for the rest of my life,” Lovelace said.
Her new life is beginning as Lovelace trades in her old Department of Corrections purple shirts for new donated outfits in her favorite color, pink.
Her family drove two hours up from South Boston to Chesterfield to pick her up at 6 a.m.
Excited to finally be headed home for the holidays and reunited with her 9-year-old daughter, Lovelace is filled with joy. She’s the oldest of four girls and says she’ll also get to meet her sister’s newborn baby.
“Getting off of that road and starting a new one is just very refreshing. Christmas to me means family. You look at your past and think about what you could've done, but instead, I feel like you should look at it and think about where you never want to be again," Lovelace said.
