“People need the support of the recovery community AND the purpose of a job”

~ Jason Schwartz

Thank goodness for Rob and Diane Perez.

DV8 Kitchen was developed and operates as a second chance employment opportunity for people who are trying to redirect their lives.

It’s one thing to initiate recovery. A good treatment program can be pretty helpful with that, and a lot of people are able to do it without treatment.

Maintaining recovery brings an entirely different set of challenges. And, most of those challenges take place away from professional helpers in the community.

So, a lot of people talk about stigma and talk about ideas like healing forests, but only a fraction of them are engaged in activities that result in immediate and tangible improvements in the lives of people with addiction. (What could be more destigmatizing than the message, “you do not need to lower your standards to employ people in recovery“?)

Thank goodness for the Perezes, and Phillis Engelbert, and all the other businesses out there that commit to supporting people in recovery.

Published by Jason Schwartz

I have been an addiction professional and social worker since 1994. I started blogging in 2005 as the Clinical Director at Dawn Farm. I no longer work at Dawn Farm and am now the Director of Behavioral Medicine at a community hospital, and a lecturer at Eastern Michigan University’s School of Social Work. Views expressed here are my own. Keep in mind that the field, the contexts in which the field operates, and my views have changed over time.

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