CINCINNATI — It's been 600 years since the debut of the printing press, and now the Cincinnati Type and Print Museum is using them to help women in recovery not only succeed in the printing industry, but also to help turn their lives around.

Olivia Palmore joined the Cincinnati Type and Print Museum and Bloc Ministries Redeemed Home program in 2020. The program serves survivors of trafficking, prostitution and addiction.

Those in the program are provided a place to stay, religious, financial and recovery support, and a printing job opportunity at the museum. While at the museum, women learn how to use the printing press to make customized cards and other stationery items. 

“I just think it’s fun to give people hope and support through paper and art,” said Palmore. 

Palmore is now three years sober, but prior to joining the program, she had struggled with substance abuse. During that time, she went through a divorce and lost custody of her children.

“I was going to (Alcoholics Anonymous) on my own, and sometimes going to church here and there, but once I found the Redeemed Home, they really just tackled all of life’s issues,” she said. 

Palmore is one of 28 women to go through this program since it began in 2017. The ultimate goal is to help the women become self-sufficient, independent and stronger in their faith.  

Over the past year, Palmore said she has not only learned how to work a printing press from start to finish, but she also got the opportunity to work on a lot of cool printing projects. Now as a director at the museum, she sees the hard work paying off. 

“There’s a whole village of support, and I think that’s the main part for me that I needed,” she said. “Because we always say it takes a village to raise a child, but really, the moms and the parents and the adults need that same village to hold each other up.”