NORTHAMPTON — Maria Pantoja credits her late aunt and dearest friend Doris Colon with giving her a valuable lesson about helping people in the throes of drug addiction.

“She showed me how to treat the person, then the problem,” Pantoja said.

Colon had her own struggles with drugs and died at 43 in 1998. Pantoja went on to work in the Hampden and Northwestern district attorney’s offices, and has headed the Drug Diversion and Treatment Program in Hampshire and Franklin counties since 2018.

Last month, the Hampshire County Bar Association awarded her its Contribution to Justice Award “in appreciation of her dedication, knowledge, patience and fairness in furthering the interests of justice in Hampshire County.”

“I was overwhelmed when they called me for this,” Pantoja said. It makes her especially proud to know she’s the first Latina to win the award.

She knows about struggling for acceptance. Her dad was the first Spanish teacher in the Holyoke schools, in 1970, she said, and had to battle for a classroom bigger than a closet. Similarly, she was the only Spanish-speaking person in Holyoke District Court when she began working there in 1997 and experienced prejudice and dismissiveness as part of the daily routine.

But she kept going, returning to college in 2011 and graduating magna cum laude from Bay Path University in 2015.

Pantoja accepts offenders to the drug diversion program based on her own intake assessment. It starts with a drug charge and an appearance in court, where a prosecutor may see someone as a suitable candidate and refer them to the diversion program.

Becky Michaels, an assistant district attorney and director of community prosecution projects, said Pantoja’s qualities go beyond being organized and having the trust of court personnel.

“She brings such a sense of hope for every person she works with,” Michaels said. “She helps them believe they can get out of the situation they’re in.”

Pantoja has great empathy for people struggling with addiction, she said, and an ability to see good in them even at their darkest moments.

Intake may take an hour or two, Pantoja said. She has to know the person is serious about committing to treatment and going through the program, which takes at least six months to complete.

The court case stays active until the offender completes treatment, after which charges are dismissed.

Pantoja works closely with Clinical & Support Options and the Center for Human Development to develop individual treatment plans. John Sullivan at the Northampton Recovery Center is another important resource, she said.

“I expect people to be honest,” she said. “The primary focus is on recovery and healing.”

If the client misses an appointment, Pantoja will know about it — and she’ll call them on it.

She sees herself as the human face of the court system, but if people want to stay out of court itself, they need to follow through.

People who have completed the program often stay in touch with Pantoja afterward. A 30-year-old single mother who had lost custody of her children and was at rock bottom when she was arrested in February 2023 sent Pantoja a video to say she had saved her life.

“I did the program and graduated and since then my life has done nothing but get better,” the woman said. “If you’re not doing what you need to be doing, she’ll kick you out of the program. You have to do the work. I have a huge spot in my heart for Maria.”

Those accepted for diversion are primarily nonviolent offenders. If there is a victim in the case, Pantoja will consult with the victim/witness advocates to make sure they’re in agreement.

The first person she worked with was a former police officer, she said, who had become addicted to opiates after breaking his back on a police call.

“I learned a lot,” she said.

Northwestern District Attorney David Sullivan said his office has received dozens of letters of thanks from people who have completed the program.

“We’re so proud of Maria,” he said. “It’s an award she richly deserves.”

She goes above and beyond to help clients, Sullivan said, putting a human face on criminal justice.

“They realize we’re a human system, and people will respect them if they respect themselves,” he said.

In her time, the diversion program has served more than 630 people, she said. Numbers at any one time are fluid. As of Friday, there were 50 people in various stages of recovery. Pantoja runs the program with help from a diversion specialist who works in Franklin County.

“I love to see the transformation” that some participants in the program undergo, she said. “We’ve had some wonderful successes. But some can’t do it.”

Overall, she said, there are more completions than terminations. The vast majority of those who complete the program stay off drugs afterward, though some may be on maintenance drugs such as methadone for years to come.

The drugs themselves are an evolving challenge. Cheap, deadly fentanyl has long been mixed with heroin and is increasingly used in a variety of other drugs. The animal tranquilizer xylazine, notorious for its flesh-eating properties, has made inroads in the region, and against it the overdose reversal drug naloxone is ineffective.

Pantoja said she was speaking recently with a 21-year-old woman who had overdosed 10 times. Pantoja told her she must be blessed.

“I want them to understand they’re valuable,” she said of the people in the program. “I want to see them succeed.”

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.