BIDDEFORD (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Employers at a job fair in Biddeford Thursday were looking for very specific candidates: people recovering from substance use.
Gaps in resumes and criminal histories typically present barriers to employment.
The job fair, co-hosted by Representative Martin Grohman and ENSO Recovery, aimed to help people who are in recovery from substance use.
Maine police estimate that between 80 and 90 percent of inmates in the state's jails are there for drug-related offenses. Police say without stable jobs, those released offenders cannot get stable housing. Then, those people tend to fall back into cycles of drug use and re-incarceration.
It's huge that when they get released, they have those natural supports and they can just start with different habits," said York County Sheriff Bill King. "It's not a sign of weakness. It's actually a sign of strength that they recognize that their lives are out of control and they're taking those pro-social, positive steps to become productive members of society."
Applicants also had an opportunity to get a free haircut or styling, pick up free business casual clothing, and get free resume help.
"Employment is the first step of reintegrating back into society, coming out of that secondary deviant subculture that we've cast them out," said Tim Cheney, Principal of ENSO Recovery. "Many of them are unwilling to put their faces and voices to recovery because of the stigma that's associated with it. This is a healthcare issue, not a moral failing, not a criminal justice issue."
More than 25 companies participated, looking to hire people like Corey Reynolds, from Bangor, who has been sober for six months, free from the grips of heroin and alcohol.
"Without work it's been difficult financially, and if you ain't got money, you ain't got housing, and if you ain't got housing, you don't have much of anything," said Reynolds. "With my record, it's kind of been a little difficult."
Select inmates from the York County Jail also performed Skype interviews form the jail with the employers on site at the Pepperell Mill Campus location. Inmates must be within three months of release and have completed their sentences.
"Everybody deserves a second chance or even a third chance. We're just providing the opportunity. They're really doing the work," said Guy Loranger, owner of Big Daddy's Restaurant in Old Orchard Beach.
Loranger said he has hired people in recovery before and that they have worked out well, and that he was hoping to fill spots for the summer because of a lack of applicants during the year.
"We're not judging people. We're just hoping that they can do the job and we can help them do that," said Loranger.
Grohman said he Hopes to hold a similar fair in Cumberland County soon.