FLOWOOD — Courtney Estes returned to the Community Work Center in Flowood to deliver the keynote at the graduation of the latest alcohol and drug program, saying the facility played a key role in her recovery and that she is preparing to be ordained as a minister next month.
Estes said she was an inmate at the Flowood facility eight years ago after a conviction related to methamphetamine and remained in treatment and recovery until her release in December 2024. “Eight years ago, I was right where you are now. I lived in Room 3 right over there,” she said, pointing behind her. “I am blessed to come back to pour into these women the knowledge and show them they are not alone.”
Program leader George Schmaus said the Flowood program is the only alcohol-and-drug program in the prison system that uses peer facilitators to help inmates through the course. He noted the class began with 21 inmates and celebrated 13 graduates who completed the 25-week rehabilitation program. “It is not a small thing to graduate from A&D,” Schmaus said. “This is a really big accomplishment, and we have a wonderful team of peer facilitators who work with the participants.”
Among the graduates were Melissa Ann Buse and Emily Stuart. Buse, a 59-year-old serving a 20-year sentence for possession of a controlled substance in Stone County, said the program helped her identify the root causes of her addiction after about 40 years of involvement with drugs. “I never realized how serious my addictions were until I started recovery,” Buse said. Stuart, serving a 10-year sentence for identity theft, said she initially felt like an outsider because she had not used drugs but learned she was “a by-product of it.” “I was with others who were addicted, and I made poor decisions,” she said.
Estes described a long decline into addiction and abusive relationships before her arrest and said she made a life-changing decision while at Flowood. “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I was not going to leave the way I came in,” she said, describing new compliance, participation in programs and a serious commitment to sobriety that helped her rebuild family connections and pursue a career after release.
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