When the opioid epidemic swept across southeast Ohio in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Kevin Dennis said it seemed like everyone had a loved one caught up in addiction.
For him, it was his daughter. She started taking pain pills after a basketball injury when she was 13 years old. It turned into a habit that continued through high school and worsened after graduation.
“There was times when we didn't know if Amber was gonna live or die,” Dennis said. “She overdosed once in our front yard. She was basically in a coma for two days and we were praying over her.”
Around that time, Dennis’ former pastor started envisioning a new use for the area’s deteriorating former high school. He wanted to transform the space into an addiction recovery and community outreach center.
It was a daunting job: The school had sat empty for about 15 years.
“Trees grew out of the roof,” Dennis recalled. “There were dead birds in here. It was full of asbestos.”
Now, after two decades of grant writing and volunteer labor from the local congregation, the Field of Hope Community Campus is clean, asbestos-free and offers a range of services — from residential housing for women in recovery to prevention programs for local youth to a weekly food pantry for neighbors in need.
And last year, it added a new program: With a grant from the OneOhio Recovery Foundation, Field of Hope opened the Old School Cofé to provide job training and work experience to women in recovery.
“We know that we need to help them get their feet on the ground once they go through this rehabilitation process,” Dennis said.
Programs like this are emerging across the state. As opioid overdose deaths decline in Ohio, the state is investing millions of dollars to help people recovering from substance use disorders — including by helping them find and retain jobs.
The Old School Cofé
Located in the lunch room of the former North Gallia High School, the Old School Cofé doesn’t serve steamed cafeteria lunches with jugs of chocolate milk. Instead, workers assemble gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches and dish out smoothies with names like “Nature’s Kiss.”
“It's got kale, tropical fruit, yogurt, milk, sugar and some strawberry puree,” explained Skylar Estep, who’s been working in the cafe and coffee shop for just a few weeks.
In the coming year, she’ll get a taste of every role, from cashier to barista, cook to dishwasher.
“I never imagined that I would have this job and then I tried for it and I got it, so I'm just super grateful,” she said.
A growing body of research shows employment helps people in recovery establish routine, social connections and financial stability — all of which reduce the risk of relapse.
Organizations like the OneOhio Recovery Foundation have taken note. Among the $45 million in opioid settlement money that organization distributed last year, several hundred thousand dollars were earmarked for all sorts of workforce development programs.
The John Clem Recovery House in Athens, for example, received a grant to teach construction skills to people in recovery, in partnership with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter.
Other regional organizations are investing in recovery to work programs too. The Appalachian Regional Commission has distributed around $9 million across Ohio since 2021 to help people in recovery enter the workforce. And the state has appropriated money for programs like Made in Appalachia, an initiative to help people in recovery learn manufacturing skills.
Funding like this helps the region address workforce shortages, but Old School Cofé manager and prevention director Stephanie Bobb said it makes a big difference on an individual level too.
“As a recovering addict, going through that whole process for most of your life, you really don't get very much job experience,” she said.
Working for a place like the Old School Cofé, Bobb added, “puts that experience on their resume to show that they're a reliable employee and they will stay at a business for a longer amount of time than previous jobs.”
Getting ahead
Bobb said she started using drugs as a senior in high school.
“Before I even knew what addiction was, I was addicted to pain medicine and realized that it wasn't something that I could stop,” she said. “I was in and out of jail. As drugs went on, I progressed to each one, eventually heroin.”
She decided to get sober while serving two and half years in prison.
“I worked on myself, read the entire Bible and I got out and hit the streets running,” she said.
She completed Field of Hope’s recovery program, got her driver’s license back and bought a car. But finding steady work posed a challenge. She remembered landing a well-paying position in Columbus.
“As soon as my background check came back, I got fired,” she said. “So, people look at those things and judge you off of your past rather than for who you are today.”
Amber Richards, Field of Hope’s executive director and Kevin Dennis’ daughter, has a similar story.
“As a felon, it's hard to get jobs,” she said. “Places say they're gonna hire you, but they don't always, and then if they do, it's minimum wage and it's probably for 20-some hours a week.”
That’s hardly enough to afford rent and food, she said, plus pay court fines, reinstatement fees for a driver’s license and probation service fees.
“You have to pay all these things when you've been in trouble with the law, and it's hard to get ahead,” she said.
Starting at a training ground like the Old School Cofé gives workers space to master new skills and more than minimum wage pay to start a savings. And Stephanie Bobb says it helps them build confidence for the future.
“It's so refreshing to find a place to know you are worthy, for one, but also you are an asset to their company and that's awesome,” she said.
Field of Hope is planning to open two new business ventures to employ people in recovery this fall: a print shop and a hair and nail salon.
