PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- A job fair specifically for people in recovery seeks to hire people who might otherwise struggle severely to gain employment.
ENSO Recovery is partnering with about 25 employers and the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office to put people who are sober after struggling with drug use in front of prospective employers. It starts at 8 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 11 at the Portland Expo and continues until 4 p.m.
A job can be critical to a person's recovery, according to Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce and York County Sheriff Bill King.
Sheriff King helped set up video interviews with inmates at the York County Jail during a similar job fair in Biddeford in June.
Many times, people in recovery have criminal records, or gaps in their resumes, that prevent them from getting hired.
"The financial insecurity is crippling for some people," said Steve Danzig, executive director of ENSO Recovery. "[A job] gives them stability, it gives them an opportunity to start to make financial amends to people."
Having an employer give them a second chance can prevent them from falling back into the cycle of drug use, said Danzig.
"Now they have somebody who has identified themselves as, 'yes I have had this issue, but now I'm on the mend. I'm putting my life back together,'" said Danzig.