Woman’s rebound turns into career of service

March 4, 2026 by Ben Pounds

She recovered from addiction, and now she’s helping others with theirs.

Dominique Hawn graduated from Anderson County Recovery Court on Feb. 26.

She’s currently a recovery tech for Hope of East Tennessee.

Hawn also is working on becoming a licensed alcohol and drug counselor.

She said she wants to give back what she received.

“This program changed my life, and I actually have a life now,” she told The Courier News.

“What I had before was I didn’t feel like I could do anything,” she said. “I felt very diminished by society.”

She said the Recovery Court program treated her “like a human being.

That program, she said, helps people succeed and does things other parts of the judicial system do not.

While part of the judicial system, Recovery Court focuses on helping people overcome addictions, and can serve as an alternative to prison for some.

“It was a very different experience, and their support and work with me has helped me to grow,” Hawn said.

Friends, family, Recovery Court staff, County Commissioner Shelly Vandagriff and Tennessee Rep. Rick Scarborough came to celebrate the graduation at the Anderson County Courthouse. Food available included cupcakes donated by Food City, pigs in blankets and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Gifts for Hawn at the event included a blanket and a guitar.

She received a Bible from First United Methodist Church of Oak Ridge. She also received the golden cup, a prize for going through the program without a positive test.

She said she was trying to recover “mostly from the spiritual sickness within myself.”

“Everybody wants to assign it to a drug or alcohol or something outside ourselves but really it’s within ourselves,” she said. “And until we heal what’s inside of ourselves, we can’t go further.”

She said “seeking God” was her secret to overcoming that issue.

Hawn said the most-challenging part of the recovery process was transportation.

“You start from nothing,” she said, adding that people like her lack a license or money for bus fares at that stage.

“I saw something in her because she was so serious about this decision and so thoughtful about her classes,” said public defender Ann Corria, who was Hawn’s attorney.

“I said ‘Dominique, you have a gift. I see that. I want you to see it.’ And she has.”

Corria said the gift was to go through the process while also being a mentor to other people.

Hope of East Tennessee is an addiction and treatment firm that’s been around since 1976.

It has a women’s residential facility in Oliver Springs, and one for men in Oak Ridge.

There also is a clinic in Oak Ridge.

Jeff Shaw, the organization’s executive director, said many people in Anderson County Recovery Court come for inpatient treatment, and then stay at transition facilities.

He said that there are two other Recovery Court graduates on Hope of East Tennessee’s staff, and are “some of the best folks we’ve got.”

People looking to get treatment from the organization can call 865-482-4826. Donations may be made at hopeofet.org/donate/.

Kenny Brown, Anderson County Recovery Court and Veterans Treatment Court director, said that the court often gives a second chance to people who don’t otherwise have the support necessary.

“It just does amazing things for their confidence,” he said of the program’s effects on graduates.

The program is looking for more participants,” Brown said.

“We’re trying to build something here that’s special,” he added.









Ben Pounds | The Courier News





Ben Pounds | The Courier News