One year ago, Gina M. McMurray had hit rock bottom.

The young Lehighton mother had just been arrested, charged with driving while high on methamphetamine, her toddler daughter unsecured in the front seat.

Homeless, her then-husband was in jail, and she had no family to help her.

That was Sept. 23, 2016.

On Friday, McMurray stood in Carbon County Judge Joseph J. Matika’s courtroom, weeping as she described her hard uphill climb to sobriety.

McMurray, now 25, has been living with her daughter in the Salvation Army’s Kirby House program, Wilkes-Barre.

Under the program’s strict rules, she has been clean and sober, works, and cares for her daughter.

Her little girl is the reason she’s ditching drugs and turning her life around.

“I would rather have my daughter than something that will make me happy for a short time,” she told Matika. “I just want to be there for her.”

Driving under the influence of methamphetamine placed her daughter at risk, the judge told McMurray.

“That was probably rock bottom for you,” he said.

Matika picked up a card he keeps in front of him in the courtroom.

It’s printed with a quote from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

“Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life,” he read.

“The steps you’ve taken show me you’ve begun rebuilding from rock bottom,” he told McMurray.

McMurray and her daughter can live at Kirby House for up to two years; they’ve been there since January. She can have just three days away from the program without consequences.

So, after she pleaded guilty to driving under the influence of methamphetamine, endangering the welfare of children, and retail theft, Matika tailored McMurray’s punishment to bolster her efforts.

He sentenced her to 72 hours to 6 months in jail on the DUI charge, the 72 hours to be served over a long weekend.

McMurray will also lose her driver’s license for 18 months and pay a $1,500 fine. Matika ordered her to perform 100 hours of community service and attend the Alcohol Safe Driving School.

He sentenced her to one year on probation on the endangering charge, and ordered her to take parenting classes, which she does at Kirby House, and to obtain a drug and alcohol evaluation and comply with any recommendations.

He also sentenced her to one year on probation for retail theft, to be served concurrently with the other sentences.