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Recovery in the News
Recovering addicts face roadblocks heading toward the work force
Abby Sewell
Desert Dispatch
April 10, 2008
BARSTOW — Two weeks ago, Jason Gilvin got a job washing dishes at the newly opened Straw Hat Grill.
To some people, it might be just a job to pay the bills. To Gilvin, it’s proof of how far he has come in the two years since he was brought to the Oasis House sober living community in the back of a sheriff’s car at age 18. He was on drugs and had become violent towards his family, Gilvin said.
“Today my mom, when people ask ‘Where’s your oldest son?’, she doesn’t have to say ‘He’s in jail’ or ‘He’s using drugs,’” Gilvin said. “Now she can say, ‘He’s at the Straw Hat and he’s doing better.’”
Heatherlinnea Deer is looking for work, but years of addiction left her with few marketable skills. Deer, who is now sober and living at the Oasis House, said she wants to be able to work and support her infant son, but some days the search is discouraging enough to make her want to use drugs again.
From the time she dropped out of high school to the day she walked into Oasis House at the age of 31 and got serious about recovering for her son’s sake, Deer said she had been too wrapped up in drugs to hold down a job.
“It’s hard filling out applications and not having any experience,” she said. “The only experience I’ve had is pretty much working the office here (at the Oasis House). And it’s hard just building confidence from being a shattered person.”
Local social service workers said the issues facing recovering addicts and felons as they transition back into the work force range from lack of experience and self confidence to lack of a driver’s license.
“Social skills are their biggest problem — not knowing, or freezing up or not being used to talking to someone in the community who’s upstanding,” said Justin Meeker, a supervisor at the Barstow Center for Change and a recovered addict.
The non-profit runs an 18-month outpatient program for non-violent felony offenders referred by the Barstow Drug Court. People in the program are required to go through a 12-step program like Alcoholics Anonymous and must be working or going to school full time by the end of their first three months in the program, Meeker said.
Other programs in Barstow geared towards helping recovering addicts integrate into society include the Oasis House, a sober living apartment complex where recovering addicts can stay from 90 days up to a year; the Panorama Ranch, a new 90-day chemical dependency treatment facility, and the New Hope Village, a transitional housing project.
Oasis House owner Larry Shook said the nonprofit offers the residents classes in computer skills and writing resumes. Shook works with local business owners to help the residents find employment.
Still, Shook and Meeker said many employers are leery of hiring recovering addicts or people with a criminal record.
“It is hard to convince the employers,” Meeker said. “They see the felony record and they see the drug conviction.”
Shook acknowledged, “I can’t walk up to the employer and guarantee ‘This man’s not going to drink, this man’s not going to use.’”
Two local employers who have worked with recovering addicts reported largely good results.
Straw Hat Grill owner Jeff Eason Jr., hired several Oasis House residents and said they have been good employees.
“Just because they’re in a program doesn’t mean they’re bad people,” he said. “I know plenty of people who probably should be in a program and should be under guidelines, but they’re walking free.”
Dennis Haefele, owner of Heart Plumbing, sees himself as having a spiritual mission to help give people a second chance. He and his brother, Paul Haefele, work with Celebrate Recovery, a Christian 12-step program. Many of his employees have had spots on their records and most have been success stories, he said. Haefele said he takes applicants on a case-by-case basis.
“We look at the people and look at their recovery and how they’ve improved themselves, and we watch them for a while,” he said.
One employee who came straight from a recovery program in Helendale, has worked with the company for the past 15 years, he said.
Still, since plumbers work in people’s homes, Haefele said he has to be cautious. Plumbing companies must be bonded and licensed, and a bonding company must approve employees with a criminal record, he said. That may bar people with convictions for a violent crime or for certain types of property crime.
Another common issue is that people sometimes exit jail having lost their driver’s license, which might bar them from skilled trades or construction work, he said. Haefele cited two men currently in the Celebrate Recovery program, one a welder and the other skilled in the building trade. Both have lost their licenses as a consequence of their drug use, he said.
“They’re trying to get a job, a good job supporting themselves and not necessarily working at Del Taco with the high-school kids, but a job that has a future,” he said.
Gilvin said a person’s state of mind is the most important factor in transitioning back into the work force.
“Honestly, it’s more about you being ready,” he said. “Before you can work on a job, you need to work on yourself.”
The Center for Change maintains a list of local businesses willing to hire someone with a criminal record, including Wal-Mart, Barstow Community College, Food 4 Less, the Dollar Tree, NAPA Auto Parts, AutoZone, San Bernardino County and various truck-driving companies, Meeker said.
Local store representatives at Wal-Mart, Food 4 Less and AutoZone referred the Desert Dispatch to corporate headquarters for comment. Wal-Mart public relations representatives did not respond to questions regarding their policies on hiring people in recovery or with criminal records.