Showing Up Matters: Kim Robbins’ 24 Years of Dedication to Drug Court

November 2024 DUI/Drug Court graduates— celebrated new beginnings for Cortney Candelaria, Tanner Beebe, Charles “Tony” Bryan, Toni Thompson, and Jeffery Hart. Honorable Judge Mary Sue Wilson and Judge Skinder joined in recognizing their hard work and commitment to positive change.

You’ve probably heard the saying that 80% of success is just showing up. But for participants in the Thurston County DUI/Drug Court Program, simply showing up can feel impossible. Between personal struggles, systemic challenges, and the unpredictability of life, the obstacles are overwhelming. Thankfully, Drug Court Coordinator Kim Robbins is there to provide stability in the chaos.

Robbins knows a thing or two about persistence—after all, she quite literally started her career in Drug Court by showing up against all odds. “My interview was scheduled for February 28, 2001, the day of the Nisqually earthquake,” she recalls with a laugh. “Phones were down, so I couldn’t call to check if it was still happening. I showed up anyway, and I think they hired me because they knew I would always show up! I should have known then that this position would be an adventure.” As of April 1, 2025, she’ll have been with Drug Court for 24 years and will be starting her 25th year.

Before stepping into this role, Robbins spent 15 years at Providence St. Peter Hospital, working her way up from file clerk to Administrative Assistant to the Director of the Family Practice Residency Program. Transitioning from healthcare to criminal justice was an extreme culture shock, but it didn’t take long for Robbins to find her footing.

She was also part of the early days of the Strophy Foundation, though it had a different name back then. “When we started, it was called the Community Drug Court Support Foundation,” she explains. “We didn’t have all the Therapeutic Courts we have today.”

At the time, Ms. Ellen Goodman was the Program Administrator for Drug Court, and it was just the two of them running the program. “She was amazing at securing grants,” says Robbins. “But grants only covered program operations and treatment—not things like transportation, emergency needs, or personal essentials.”

After attending a National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) conference, the two women realized they needed a nonprofit to fill those gaps. “We reached out to community leaders, shared the needs of Drug Court participants, and built a foundation to support them.” What started as a small effort with local attorneys and business owners eventually became the Strophy Foundation, which now supports all of Thurston County’s Therapeutic Courts.

These days, Robbins describes her daily duties as “herding cats.” She juggles court calendars, documentation, urinalysis testing, and participant check-ins, ensuring the program runs smoothly. But what makes it all worth it? Seeing people succeed.

“I believe Drug Court helps build pathways to recovery,” says Robbins. “We provide treatment and housing support, but we also hold people accountable for their choices. Sanctions and therapeutic adjustments help participants stay on track, and that’s what ultimately keeps them moving forward.”

It’s a unique and demanding job, but Robbins wouldn’t trade it for anything. And if an earthquake couldn’t keep her from showing up, nothing else will either. Because for her, that’s what it takes to succeed.

From Survival to Strength: How Drug Court Helped Mindi Bowman Build a New Life

Our reasons for making life changes evolve with age, experience, and perspective. For many, Thurston County’s therapeutic courts start as a way to avoid a harsher penalty or a lifelong criminal record. That was the case for Mindi Bowman.

Until 2013, her record was limited to minor infractions like speeding tickets. But when she faced prison time for a first-time drug offense, she discovered a new path—one that led to a completely different future.

“I’d never been to jail,” Bowman recalls. “But I heard about drug court, asked for it, and was approved.” She shared her story with the court, explaining how she had been raised in an environment filled with drugs and alcohol. The administrators saw her as the perfect candidate for a fresh start.

“At first, the program was a huge adjustment,” she admits. “It’s very strict and structured, but that’s what helped. I didn’t know any other way. I went in just to avoid prison, but the meetings and steps taught me a whole new way to live.”

That realization changed everything. “A friend in the program told me the biggest thing to learn was acceptance,” she explains. “Once I was in, I started to understand and accept other possibilities—even good ones. Drug court became the foundation for my recovery. It gave me the tools to build a real life.”

Now, 11 years sober, Bowman remains involved, helping others navigate the same journey. She helped found the drug court alumni group, which supports new participants as they adjust to the program.

“We started these meetings to help people understand the recovery process,” she says. “We wanted to show them that they can do it, because we’ve done it. It makes a difference to have real people—people who have walked the same path—share their experience and remind them there’s life after court.”

Like anyone, Bowman has faced challenges along the way. When her son was sentenced to prison, she took time to grieve, but never allowed herself to fall back into old patterns.

“I’ve learned to look for the why—the reason to stay clean,” she says. “And that reason has changed over the years. But no matter what, when you don’t know what else to do, pick up the phone. Call a friend, call a sponsor. Then go to a meeting. You’ve earned that seat, and people there can help.”

For those considering drug court, Bowman offers simple advice: Take the opportunity.

“It’s okay if at first, you’re just doing it to avoid jail,” she says. “Because in the process, you’ll gain so much more than a clean record. Somewhere along the road, you’ll really get it—and that’s a win/win, no matter what brought you there.”

“Thrive”—Thurston County’s Early Childhood Court

Adulthood means learning to juggle multiple tasks, day-in and day-out. Work, chores, bills, groceries, friends, family…they all take precious time and energy. But some situations require our full attention, often to the detriment of other responsibilities. Navigating the court system has dozens of mandatory steps, requirements, and milestones. So does parenting. Trying to handle both at the same time can be challenging.

Thrive previously known as Safe Babies Court is an Early Childhood Therapeutic Intervention court program that works to protect infants and toddlers and set up families for long-term success.  To be eligible a family must have a child under three. The program helps parents learn the skills needed to raise their child or children while juggling other court-ordered services. By breaking cycles of abuse/neglect and/or other challenges, Thrive looks to give these families the support they need for a fresh start.

In this process, services are ordered for parents in dependency cases.  A dependency case is a legal term for a type of case that involves a child who is considered dependent on the court for protection. According to Family & Youth Justice Programs (FYJP), a dependent child has suffered abandonment, abuse, or neglect. The term also applies to children without a safe family situation or one receiving extended foster care services.

“In Washington State,” says FYJP, “more than half of all dependency cases involve children aged birth to five years old.  Research has proven that the most rapid period of brain development occurs during this time and impacts every aspect of a child’s future, including academic performance, behavior, and mental health. Many courts recognize the challenges and the opportunities that this presents, and several Washington State dependency courts have focused their efforts on better serving young children and their families.”

Sabrina Craig is the Therapeutic Courts Program Manager for Thurston County Superior Court.  One of her duties in that role is to supervise the Community Coordinator position for Thrive.  She’s worked with therapeutic courts for almost 15 years. She began supervising the Community Coordinator for the Early Childhood Therapeutic Court in 2023.

Craig explains that Thrive works with multiple stakeholders throughout the process. These include parents and the parent attorneys, the Washington State Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) which is represented in these matters by the Attorney General’s Office, and service organizations like Family Support Center of South Sound and Family Education & Support Services (FESS). Throughout a family’s time in SBC, everyone maintains the same goal: to support a family’s reunification or other permanency plan.

Thrive is a voluntary early engagement program. “Entry into the program must occur at or about the time Dependency is established,” explains Craig. “This typically means that sometime during the shelter care process, referrals are made by attorneys, social workers, or are sometimes self-referred after speaking with the Community Coordinator.”

Thrive relies on the Strophy Foundation to provide flexible funds to support parents in navigating the ordered services and addressing barriers to supports that will ultimately allow them to thrive as parents.

The coordinator position is currently vacant, and Craig hopes to recruit and onboard new help in 2025. She’s looking for “someone with a passion for working with families and to develop plans by which to use our Strophy funds to incentivize parent engagement.”

Successful parenting—like adulthood—means juggling, improvising, figuring things out on the go, and learning to ask for help when you need it most. Thanks to the Strophy Foundation’s support, Thrive, and the families we serve get the opportunity to well…thrive.

From Chaos to Stability: How Toni Thompson Rebuilt Her Life Through Drug Court

Photo courtesy of Toni Thompson, left.

Sometimes life is a twinkling, snowy white Christmas. At others, it’s a chaotic avalanche, upending everything in its path. For Toni Thompson, addiction and homelessness swept away more than 25 years of her life. To find safe, secure, stable footing she reached out to the Thurston County Drug Court program. Thompson has since established herself with a place to live, jobs which give back to the community, and a new appreciation for the small joys so many of us take for granted.

A convicted felon several times over, Thompson was facing a new prison sentence while living in places like the Jungle encampment off Martin Way. She truly found herself “at my wits end.” Her living situation, sobriety, and recovery options were running thin so she petitioned the courts to let her join the Strophy Foundation-supported program.

DUI/Drug Court helps eligible non-violent felony offenders break the cycle of substance abuse and crime. It promotes responsibility, accountability, and is a partnership between the client, recovery services, criminal justice partners, and behavioral health specialists. The program also helps with food insecurity, employment, educational resources, and even medical expenses not covered by insurance.

“In Drug Court, you’ve got people backing you right there,” says Thompson. “Compliance shows that you want something more. I begged the attorney for Drug Court because I needed to change my life and it helped me dramatically.”

She found temporary housing with the Salvation Army and soon started working for them with others in similar situations. Today she’s a shelter worker and emergency on call staff. She also works with South Sound Behavioral Hospital. Her lived experience provides a rare, vital service in often trying situations.

“I can really change the atmosphere of a room,” she explains, “because they know I’m not just there for a paycheck but I can relate to almost everyone who walks through the doors. I want to help people succeed, even if I just help one.”

Thompson has experienced self-harm, suicide attempts, addiction, and overdose. She’s spent time in jail, slept in doorways, and overcome abuse. But she understands that “you can offer all the help but they have to be ready to accept.” So, she spreads the word about Drug Court far and wide, helps program enrollees with their coursework, and supports them throughout the long journey to a new life.

Looking ahead, Thompson—now a certified peer counselor (CPC)—is thinking about continuing her studies to become a certified nursing assistant (CNA) while also applying to become an Agency Affiliated Counselor (AAC). She’s continued working with the Salvation Army for more than a year and is celebrating finally getting a driver’s license and car of her own.

“There are a lot of privileges we don’t really think are privileges until we get them,” admits Thompson. “Things like driving. But it’s been one year and eleven months since I started Drug Court and I’m proud that I’ve come pretty far.”

We can’t predict what storms may come, but having a stable, secure foundation means we’ll stand strong no matter what, especially with supporters at our side.

Update: Congratulations to Toni who received her AAC LICENSE today!

Breaking the Cycle

Clayton Musgrove. Photo by Shanna Paxton Photography for Strophy Foundation.

Breaking the Cycle: Clayton Musgrove's Journey from Generational Patterns to Personal Triumph

We’ve all inherited family traits, and they can make us recognizable to others. Your height (or lack thereof), hair and eye color, musical ability, sports prowess, and double-jointed thumbs can all be passed down. Chances are you’ve been told you’re just like mom, dad, grandpa, or Great Aunt Mary in some way.

But some traits—and recognition—are more complicated. For Clayton Musgrove, it was being called out during a visit to DUI/Drug Court where officials had worked with several other members of the family. In his case, however, time in the program brought very different results and he’s breaking out of generational patterns one day at a time.

Musgrove attended DUI/Drug court in 2015. As part of the legal wrangling, Ellen, a program director said simply “I’m going to offer you the chance at a new life,” he recalls. He chose to attend the therapeutic courts as a way to both get clean and retrain his mind and thinking patterns.

“You can’t process things when you’re loaded,” says Musgrove. “Treatment taught me how to use logic, cope, feel, and problem solve as a sober person. It takes a while for the brain to heal but it changed my life. I’ve learned how to forgive, talk it out, and look at myself; things I didn’t know before. Because of that I’m still clean and sober.”

From the start, Musgrove was told by program facilitators that it’s going to be tough, but you can do it. And the future is bright…literally. He’s now an electrician for the state of Washington with advancement opportunities ahead. “I have a good job and I’m working on things because I had the chance to invest in myself.”

The Strophy Foundation helped fund EMDR therapy to address underlying trauma. The American Psychological Association explains that EMDR uses targeted eye movement. “Unlike other treatments that focus on directly altering the emotions, thoughts, and responses resulting from traumatic experiences, EMDR therapy focuses directly on the memory and is intended to change the way the memory is stored in the brain, thus reducing and eliminating the problematic symptoms,” say APA experts.

He’s one of the founding members of the DUI/Drug Court’s meeting groups. These sessions are only open to alumni of the system and helpful both as continuing support and encouragement for new participants. “It shows them that we made it out,” says Musgrove, “That we have jobs and lives and a future.”

The key to success, says Musgrove, echoes something he learned as a national champion martial artist. “You only get out of something what you put into it. When you’re using, you’re typically so focused on the next time you can use. When you learn to focus that drive on life, we can become successful. The brain tells you it’s hard, go get loaded instead and avoid the crushing reality of responsibility. But when I look back, I see that I was so selfish and insecure, I should have just trusted the process.”

“Life isn’t easy,” admits Musgrove, “you’ll fumble but pick yourself up and learn by it. We tell new group members that this isn’t any harder than what life will throw at you. Anyone can do it if they make the decision to succeed.” And that’s advice worthy of sharing with future generations.

From Darkness to Light: Angela Turner's Journey of Transformation and Hope

Making a complete and total change in life is never easy…and often quite scary. Especially because we seldom uproot ourselves when things are going smoothly. But large-scale transitions are one way to break out of harmful habits, lifestyles, and routines to truly start a new life. For Angela Turner, the catalyst for hope was finally getting clean and sober on October 27, 2017.

Turner started Thurston County Drug Court in October 2017 with a daunting string of charges. “I was charged with eight counts of robbery and racketeering,” she recalls, “and facing 80 to 110 months in prison. I had been addicted to and abusing substances for 20 years and a vexing bane upon society and my community. I had ruined countless lives through selling and distributing drugs, stealing, lying, and deceiving anyone and everyone if it benefited me.”

Growing up with sexual trauma and a mentally ill mother, Turner started living on the streets at only 14 years old. To survive so young, she turned to drugs and crime. Parenting experts explain that at her young age, finding trouble was almost inevitable. “Because the prefrontal cortex is still developing, pre-teens and teenagers might rely on a part of the brain called the amygdala to make decisions and solve problems more than adults do. The amygdala is associated with emotions, impulses, aggression, and instinctive behavior.”

Without regular parental guidance as a child, Turner says that Drug Court is where she learned how to follow the rules. “I had never followed a rule in my life,” she admits. “I have always done what I wanted to get what I wanted as a means of survival. I also had no natural support and nowhere to live until a member of the community took me in. I was her son's drug dealer, yet she still took me and my children into her home, gave me a place to live, and supported me throughout my time in drug court.”

But the drug court staff did more than hold Turner accountable. They explained the powerful disease of addiction and mandated therapy, treatment, and 12-step meetings for support. “Once I was living clean and sober for the first time, I fell in love with life,” she says.

Through the program and continued determination to live clean, Turner went from losing custody of her children to being part of their lives again. She’s even married and owns a mini farm in Olympia’s Boston Harbor neighborhood complete with chickens, sheep, goats, and pigs.

Turner is involved with her church and volunteers to support others through their recovery. She is a Certified Peer Counselor earning a Bachelor of Applied Science in Behavioral Health and works in food security with food banks across Washington State with a background in workforce development. As she looks to the future, Turner wants to help provide housing for others working through the therapeutic recovery court system.

If anyone has stepped from darkness into light, it’s Angela Turner. But that just goes to show the power of caring, community, accountability, mentorship, and people who want to pass it on so others can change too.