It takes innovative thinking to address the substance use disorder crisis, which continues to disproportionately affect the Appalachian Region. How can communities grow support services and workforce opportunities for individuals in recovery? For Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) in Southwest Virginia, their answer is simple: local food.
Using a $494,000 ARC INSPIRE grant, ASD plans to expand its Groundwork Program – which provides paid, on-the-job agricultural training and certifications – to individuals on their recovery and workforce reentry journeys.
Growing New Opportunities
Opening the Groundwork program to Virginians in recovery goes hand-in-hand with AD’s core mission to support healthy communities and economies through strong local food systems. In addition to being paid, Groundwork participants will develop a diverse set of useful skills. During their full-time, temporary positions in the program, they will receive:
- Job training (e.g., certifications)
- Personal skill development (financial literacy)
- Professional skill development (resume writing)
- Business training (entrepreneurship, marketing)
“Virginia is at a key crossroads for economic development where holistic investment in addressing substance use-disorder and supporting people in recovery is critical for building a better economic future,” ASD Director of Workforce Development Hannah Gibbs said.
In Scott and Tazewell Counties, Groundwork staff will partner with 12 businesses and 10 local organizations across agriculture, manufacturing, hospitality and other industries to provide opportunities to 40 participants. The program will place a specific emphasis on training people in recovery for high-demand job skills and peer recovery specialist positions.
Building on Successful Foundation
The Scott and Tazewell Counties program will build on Groundwork’s workforce development success elsewhere in Southwest Virginia. In one Groundwork training path, trainees earn logistics certifications while working to distribute produce and other food to their communities at ASD’s Appalachian Harvest Food Hub.
The businesses and organizations who hire Groundwork trainees will benefit, too, as trainees bring their lived experiences to making them better places to work and visit, according to Gibbs.
“Southwest Virginia is home to incredible people and places who have endured the many hardships that have come with economic change,” she said. “It will take all of us working together, public, private, and non-profit, in order to embrace those changes, address those challenges, and build a community ready to support our folks experiencing recovery who are ready to make the transition to work.”
Gibbs said that the program aims for every trainee who graduates to go on to a job with family-sustaining wages and benefits, where they can make Appalachian communities, organizations and businesses better places to live and work for people in recovery.
Learn more about the $11.5 million INSPIRE package announced on September 18, 2024 at the Land of Sky office in Asheville, North Carolina. The package supports 39 recovery-to-work projects in communities across nine Appalachian states.
