"What are your qualifications for the job? our supervisor asked a client who was applying for a telemarketing job with TLC.

"Well, I can burp and I can fart," the applicant replied.

"Okay then," our supervisor told him. "You have the job."

While this might seem to be a strange job interview, here at TLC nothing surprises us. Because our mission is to help recovering substance abusers rebuild their lives we encounter all types. In the case of this applicant, he was a man who said he he’d spent all of his life in special education. He said even in special education class everyone made fun of him. Because he was unable to find a job in the community, we made an effort to find something for him to do around the program. Maybe something that would be useful to TLC while helping him build self-esteem.

The interesting thing about this job applicant, is he’s starting to experience some success in his position. Even though he has his issues, he's not unintelligent. And probably one of his best attributes is that he's able to stick to the job and do what he's assigned – which is to obtain work for other clients from local employers. Ninety nine out of a hundred people he calls hang up on him. But sometimes during a week's s time he'll find two or three employers who’ll hire our clients. And when he does make a successful contact he has a glow on his face for several hours.

We've had similar clients in our program over the years. Because our mission is to help recovering substance abusers rebuild their lives, we try to help anyone who shows up. And if we can just help them stay sober today, then we've done our job.