DAYTON, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction releases about 18,000 people back into society each year.
During Gov. Mike DeWine’s recent State of the State address, he highlighted the need for employers to give formerly incarcerated people a chance to join their teams.
One treatment center in Xenia is helping people find dignity, purpose and the job skills to start a new life.
“What are you guys learning about today?” asked Kip Morris to a class of future HVAC technicians at Five Star Home Services.
Morris is a co-founder of Emerge Recovery and Trade Initiative and Five Star Home Services.
In addition to having a passion to work in a recession-proof, in-demand industry, student Christian York, Morris, CEO Christian Rattin and even marketing specialist Brian Evans all have something in common: they’re in long-term recovery.
“You don’t go from homeless drug addict to CEO with just a straight line, but it’s been an amazing journey,” said Rattin.
“I was struggling to stay clean. I ended up catching a drug charge a while back and had got put in jail and the judge gave me a chance to get treatment,” said York.
“In the middle of this blossoming career, this very private battle with drugs and alcohol became very public,” Evans said.
Evans was an Ohio State journalism graduate and won multiple awards for his reporting.
“I was a crime reporter. I wrote stories about people going to prison. I wrote stories about people in drug busts,” he said.
After a downward spiral of homelessness and jail time, during his recovery, Morris gave him a chance to get back into his professional career in media.
“This is where I found my purpose, is in helping others with early recovery,” Evans said.
“The people that nobody else was willing to hire, we took a chance on. The same way that somebody had taken a chance on us and the blessings go both ways,” said Morris.
Five Star has 175 employees and Morris says more than half are second chance employees.
Learning the trade ties in with treatment and with so many mentors ready to step in and help, students can stay on track and have a support system to back them up.
“That first year is critical. So keeping an eye on ‘are they coming in late?’ That’s a huge red flag. Making sure they’re doing the little things they need to do to make sure they’re maintaining that recovery and that is staying involved in the community that got them here and giving back,” Rattin said.
“If I wasn’t doing schooling and stuff like that I kind of feel like I would be wasting time so it was a perfect opportunity to fill that time in with schooling and trade,” York said.
Morris says the salary range for a first year HVAC technician is about $45,000-$65,000.
After the first year and as more certifications are earned, the range jumps to $75,000-$125,000 a year.
