BIDDEFORD, Maine — A program for people recovering from drug abuse is teaming up with community organizations to help them get stable jobs.
ENSO Recovery helped patients get connected with employers in southern Maine. CEO Tim Cheney said stable housing and a steady job are two criteria in preventing relapses.
"It has really affected my life and torn my life apart," said Meagan Emery, who is in recovery from opiate abuse.
Emery was searching for a job Thursday after spending a few years in jail due to burglary charges stemming from her addiction.
"I made very bad mistakes. My addiction just took over my life," said Emery.
The job fair on Thursday, June 6 at the Pepperell Mill Campus Event Center in Biddeford had an admittedly low turnout Thursday, but organizers expect October's job fair in Cumberland County to draw larger crowds.
The event also offered free haircuts and makeovers, as well as free resume help.
"You really want them to feel successful, to start shedding that stigma, to start feeling like a human being who has value and purpose," said Jason Nickerson, an alcohol and substance use counselor with CAP Quality Care in Westbrook, a methadone maintenance treatment program.
This is the second year of the event.
Last year, the York County Sheriff's office provided video interviews with selected pre-release inmates from the jail with employers on site in Biddeford.
Maine sheriffs estimate that 80 to 90 percent of inmates in jails statewide are there for drug-related offenses. Not all those offenses involve possession, distribution or manufacturing: many are behind bars for charges like theft or burglary, to support their drug habits.
Employers at the fair understand recovery, criminal records, and holes in applicants' resumes.
"There's understanding that people do have substance use disorder and this will explain their gap in employment," said Sheriff King.
ENSO Recovery now has medication-assisted treatment programs for inmates in jails in York, Kennebec, and Androscoggin counties. It is the first treatment provider in the state to put these programs in jails. ENSO also provides recovery housing, away from triggers to relapse.
"For a person to put their life back together, they have to deal with the trauma, stabilize the brain, and then they have to reintegrate into society and employment is the road that you take to do that," said ENSO CEO Tim Cheney. "Employment provides people with a sense of belonging, a sense of meaning, a sense of purpose. Self-esteem is the best antidote to relapse."
Emery believes people need more help and guidance after leaving prison to help them reintegrate into society.
"Since July, I've had the chance to get my life back," said Emery of her almost one year of sobriety. "Active addiction is not the end. there's so much more to life."