Cuyahoga County Drug Court Judge Rides to 'Break the Cycle'

CLEVELAND – Over the past 15 years, thousands of drug-addicted defendants who have appeared before Judge David Matia and other Cuyahoga County Drug Court judges have had a choice: go to prison or enter the drug court's rehabilitation program.

“It is truly the most fulfilling part of my job, seeing people who are truly broken and alone and accompanying them through the first steps of recovery,” says Matia. “We like to say in drug court, 'We'll hold you accountable until you're capable of doing it yourself.'”

The program has saved countless lives and helped many achieve sobriety.

“Oh yeah, we save lives, and what I really love is that we save the next generation because most of the people in drug court have children,” Matia told us. “Now they have at least one parent to help them with homework, teach them about life and support them in being productive people themselves.”

On the occasion of his 60th birthday on October 25th, Judge Matia will help “break the vicious circle” on two wheels.

“I thought, 'We've been running drug courts for 15 years and people still don't know where to go when they're ready to start their journey to quitting. So let's take a 60 mile drive around the county.' “We visit all of our treatment providers to show people where they can go when they are ready to begin recovery,” Matia explained.

He will bike to treatment centers throughout Cuyahoga County to raise awareness of Project 180 and raise funds for the Drug Court Alumni Program, which is organized by alumni to create a support system for people in recovery, so they can find fun, safe and sober events and gatherings.

Project 180 relies on donations. So not only did Matia's Break the Cycle ride raise awareness, but it also inspired others to start a fundraiser for the organization through Recovery Resources. Donations can be made on the Recovery Resources website by selecting Project 180 as a grant recipient.

On October 25, Matia will begin his journey to ten treatment centers across the county.

“I go to Community Assessment Treatment Services on Broadway. “I’ll cross the river and go to Recovery Resources, then I’ll go to the Keating Center on Broadway, Brook Park in Broadview and then Matt Talbot over on State Street in Parma,” Matia said of his plan. “Then it's off to Spring and Pearl to visit LACADA, back to the Rocky River Reservation, all the way to the Lantern, then to the Edna House, then to Stella Maris, and then I'll end up at the Diversion Center” on the 55th . and Hitchcock Center for Women at Ansel.”

The ride is just over 64 miles long and he plans to do it all in one day.

“Maybe 15 minutes per stop,” he noted. “That’s exactly 2 1/2 hours, so we need to cut down on the chatter.”

Matia is an avid trail cyclist, but this will be his first real road trip, dedicated to the people he watched break their own bikes.

“You know the phrase, 'He who saves a life saves the world?' I would like to say that at this point we have already saved some planets,” he said.