Incarcerated men find 'new beginning' at Tennessee prison's first addiction program

Twenty-six men graduated from a nine-month addiction program in Tennessee's largest prison Friday. It was the first program of its kind in Trousdale Turner Correctional Center in Hartsville, just over an hour outside Nashville.

Clad in black graduation gowns and caps, the men entered the prison's visitation room just after 11 a.m. Friday while a five-piece band of incarcerated musicians played a smooth, soulful rendition of "Pomp and Circumstance." Smiling parents, wives and children greeted some of them as they sat.

The men had completed a nine-month addiction and behavioral health program called TCOM for the therapeutic community approach to treatment used. That group approach meant the men worked through their recovery together, spending time doing things that almost never happen in the prison otherwise — talking about their struggles, traumas, feelings and the things they've been through.

"There's none of that in here normally," said Allen Ellenburg, one of Friday's graduates. "We got close to each other in ways that you never would in here."

That bond was evident Friday as men cheered for Marcus Boatwright when he walked to the podium to speak to the crowd. If this were a school graduation, it seems like Boatwright was the class president.

He gave rounds of thanks to the prison staff, counselors and the man who directed the program, Dr. Chris Cain, Trousdale Turner's treatment manager. He called Friday a "day of great triumph" for the graduates and reflected on what his sobriety meant for him and others.

"Never again will I be a puppet, allowing myself to be pulled in every direction, my pride beaten and soiled. I've been lied to for too long, but I've lied to myself even more. Only when the strings are cut can we stand on our own, and now we truly can, bold and strong," Boatwright said.

"Looking in the mirror, I remind myself I am a king. To hell with being a puppet; today I am cutting the strings."

Staying clean in prison is far from a foregone conclusion, as many Tennessee prisons fail to keep drugs out of their facilities, leading to overdose deaths.

Boatwright, 43, had been in prison since October 2021. He goes before the parole board on May 28. Also a certified peer recovery specialist, Boatwright hopes to work somewhere that specializes in treating mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Ellenburg, 41, has been in prison since 2016 and goes before the parole board on May 29. Sobriety, he said, was the "starting of a new life."

"I've been living the way I was for so long," he said. "Now, this is a new beginning."

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.