The Dinner for Hope, hosted by the Steps to Recovery Homes nonprofit, helps fund programs the organization uses to help people recovering from substance abuse get back on their feet. One of the most important is its Work Force program that has operated since 2018 fixing up resumes and helping people find jobs. The program is overseen by Work Force development coordinator Quinton Ellis and job development coordinator Brent Hoobing, both of whom were former clients of the program and now help others.
“Ninety-eight percent of our clients come in with no money or no source of income,” Ellis said, adding that they served 52 people last year. The job development program is designed to be two to 12 weeks long and teaches clients how to organize paperwork such as birth certificates and Social Security numbers, how to present themselves in a workplace and how to sell themselves in an interview. As part of the program, they have to create a 30-second commercial and conduct mock interviews with local businesses. Steps to Recovery also provides clients with a $15-per-hour stipend after they find a job to help with living costs and helps with therapy. “Day one is a lot different from six months down the road,” Hoobing said. “So with me going through the program, going through the emotional intelligence, science and wellbeing, it changed my perspective on how I look at things.”
Ellis said that federal funding cuts over the last few months may require Steps to Recover to draw more on private fundraising and community partnerships, including those with the city of Cottonwood. “We’ve gone for congressional funds from the state before,” Ellis said. “We haven’t received them yet, we’ve come close once, so we’re going to keep on that track. Also the opioid settlement grant supports us, too.” Ellis added that the program is not in financial distress but that the intent of the fundraiser is to make the program sustainable into the future and that continued access to funds is key to achieving that goal.
