Well that might seem counterintuitive, it's a structure that's worked for over 20 years.
And it evolved like this: Many of the clients of 22 years ago wanted more than a place to crash. More than a typical halfway house where most anything goes as long as the rent is paid.
So they came up with some ideas. One of these ideas was the level system. In this system clients assumed more responsibility the longer they stayed in the program.
Levels helped the newcomers get involved in the program. They became group leaders. They set curfew times. They developed a chore system. Structure of the program now is based on what happened in those early days.
Clients also came up with business ideas that are in place today. One of these is the Inconvenience Store which has operated profitably for over a dozen years. Another is the labor group, which was started to help clients find work.
Around 100 clients work in various management positions. Among these are district managers, house managers, assistant managers, drivers, security guards, cooks, store managers, maintenance workers, and so forth.
The corporate office has ten employees who take care of such things as bookkeeping, donations, and filling job orders for the labor group.
It takes a lot of effort to help 700 clients with their recovery. And we couldn’t do it without these volunteers.
