From Lake County Record Bee

CLEARLAKE, Calif​., – October 14, 2025 – Despite all the curve balls life can hurl, there are people who manage to overcome substantial odds and still manage to prevail and on occasion achieve the success that only their wildest dreams could have conjured.

Yet there’s the Resilient Re-entry program started by the Lake County Probation Department which enjoyed an enthusiastic fourth year; drew a modest crowd to engage with civil and social service experts waiting at booths ready to guide them to a career path some may have deemed impossible until Friday October 10. 

Woodland Community College’s Lake County Campus was again the host for determined candidates who dared to take a great leap to the infinitely possible and were rewarded with stirring anecdotes of those who beat the odds and managed impressive achievement.

From out of the womb, Dustin Lawson arrived in the world with a physical marker so debilitating he could have been easily excused to skate by as best as he could, without making much effort. But as it often said, stuff happens where people unexpectedly find a voice. But in Lawson’s situation, his voice was nearly choked off before he had a chance to vocalize his ambitions. Lawson was born with cystic fibrosis and he appeared to be the one to share his story as the keynote speaker before the Re-Entry audience.

“I want to take this moment to say this is what resilience looks like,” he said. “It is not just resilience but strength, a courage that no matter how far down a blues can take you, you can always rise up again. I am a proud father, a student, and someone in long recovery.” …

The Recovery Scholars’ club was founded by four students who have lived through addiction and trauma to build an empowering community among individuals with similar experiences. The goal is to motivate individuals in recovery to achieve a better quality of life through an educational path. Some of the ways they do this is by providing students with free tutoring, academic advising, food and housing resources, job and resume preparation. They meet biweekly on campus. If students feel they could benefit from being a part email lccrecoveryscholars@yccd.edu

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Academic life seemed so challenging, Lawson started to shrink his dreams down, telling himself he was not smart enough. But he discovered he needed to build his dream step-by-step and chose to believe that maybe there was something better waiting on the other side of fear. “Even if you don’t believe in yourself, keep laying those bricks one-by-one, regardless of setbacks,” he said. “Six months from now will you have six months of progress or six months of excuses? Fear has contributed to all my bad choices in life.”

Lawson learned there is power in community and one has just to find those like-minded individuals who want better than what they have now. Lawson closed with encouraging the audience to check out all the exhibition booths at the campus parking lot, whose organizations arrived with a mission to help people like himself build a better life.

District 2 Supervisor Bruno Sabatier also shared his story. …

Sabatier went on to state that change is not easy and people have to want to change, but they also need the support of the community and support networks make it possible.

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Read the full article here.

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