Recover Appalachia

06/16/2026

We are grateful to the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington WV for helping us strengthen recovery capital in southern Ohio. Our next training cohort is coming soon!

📣 Our Foundation has awarded 172 nonprofits and other organizations in the tristate with grants totaling $2.5 million through the Healthy Communities Initiative! Learn about the funded projects at http://bit.ly/4oBIGS5.

06/12/2026

"Two steps forward, one step back."

This afternoon, participants in Future Plans' Bridging Talent to Opportunities Showcase & Roundtable Event participated in a re-entry simulation led by ODRC's Jennifer Nail to learn more about the challenges faced by returning citizens as they struggle against the odds to build a new future for themselves.

The event featured engaging talks by service providers and capacity builders from around the state, highlighting best practices and lessons learned from their work. Our Executive Director led a roundtable discussion exploring what it takes to help returning citizens reclaim a sense of agency in their lives.

We are grateful for these opportunities to learn from and collaborate with our partners in the field.

06/12/2026

Let's get to work! 💪

Opportunity Pathways is here — our new FREE 1-on-1 coaching & career assessment for individuals in recovery or re-entry.

Whether you want to land a job or launch a business, we'll help you build a plan and connect you with the resources to make it happen.

👉 Enroll here: https://work.ohio.gov/one-on-one-support/southeastern-ohio/request-job-support-se-ohio
📝 Write "Recover Appalachia" in the Questions box.

This program, which is funded by WorkOhio in partnership with Future Plans, is open to individuals who live in Scioto, Pike, Lawrence, and Adams counties.

If you're interested but have questions, please reach out to us at [email protected].

06/08/2026

Exciting news!

With funding from the Pallottine Foundation of Huntington WV, Recover Appalachia is piloting a new program this fall for recovering individuals in Scioto and Lawrence counties.

Strengthening Recovery Capital in Southern Ohio will deliver a dynamic 8-week training, followed by six months of group coaching, to 15 members of our local recovery community, starting in August 2026.

This program will teach entrepreneurial skills that empower you to:

💥 Start your own business
💥 Create more value on the job
💥 Boost your social and economic mobility
💥 Navigate the challenges of recovery more successfully

If you're interested, complete this form and we'll get back to you with more information 👉 https://wkf.ms/4vHk5xv

05/26/2026

💡 Join the team!

Recover Appalachia is looking for a Program Facilitator to support our upcoming pilot programs this year. We serve returning citizens — people coming out of incarceration or clinical treatment — with coaching, assessment, and entrepreneurship training. And we need a great facilitator to help make it happen.

Here's what matters most to us:
✅ You're comfortable in recovery and re-entry settings
✅ You have some experience with entrepreneurship or small business
✅ You know a little about things like lean startup or design thinking (or you're eager to learn)
✅ Most importantly, you genuinely want to make a difference in people's lives

This is a contract role that will grow as funding and training opportunities develop. It's not a 9-to-5. It's a calling.

If this sounds like you or someone you know, we'd love to connect. Send your resume or letter of interest to the email below with the subject line, "Program Facilitator."

📧 [email protected]

05/19/2026

Meet the team!

We're celebrating the arrival of our first intern this week at Recover Appalachia. Cody Lindsey is here to help launch Opportunity Pathways, a new 1-on-1 coaching and assessment program for returning citizens.

We asked Cody to share a little about himself and what motivates him to do this work. Here's what he said:

👉"I'm Cody Lindsey. I'm a true believer and follower of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, a father of 3 amazing young adult children, and a husband to my lovely wife Naomi. My life is a walking testament to the faith, hope, and resilience a person needs to find the power and the willingness to change. After being released from prison in 2022, I was left to build my life from the ground up. This has led me to a Spirit-filled passion for serving others to end the vicious cycle of recidivism through education, employment support, community connection and resources."

Shout out to our partner Future Plans for making this internship possible. We're excited to have Cody on board and eager to share more information about Opportunity Pathways in the days to come.

Be on the lookout!

05/11/2026

Formerly incarcerated folks: we want to hear from you!

Imagine you're in the final step-down phase of incarceration, preparing to re-enter your community and start over.

You've done your time. You've reflected on the past. You're excited to rebuild a life that matters to you and those you love, but you're also nervous about the challenges of re-entry.

Maybe you have a felony on your record. You have parole requirements to uphold. You're dealing with employer stigma based on your past.

Before release, you're given an opportunity to participate in a training program that teaches you how to navigate barriers and become self-employed.

Now, you're thinking that maybe you don't have to go home and wait around for someone else to give you a chance to work. Maybe you can learn how to use skills you already possess (or ones you could develop) to create value in your community - the kind of value people will pay money for.

With that scenario in mind, here's what we're wondering ➡️ Based on your lived experience, what is one thing that training should include to make it most helpful to a returning citizen?

Drop whatever comes to your mind in the comments below. And please, be as specific as possible.

05/04/2026

During our pilot training in November, we worked with 40 individuals at various stages of their recovery journey to help them cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset.

Since then, we've been in the field building relationships with other members of the re-entry support ecosystem and seeking funding for our next round of training.

One of the innovations we're working on in partnership with E6 Software is the creation of a mobile app that helps individuals build a sense of agency in their lives.

Agency Lab will be similar to other daily practice apps, with features such as goal setting, progress checking, and reflection prompts, but designed specifically for individuals in recovery who want to develop habits of opportunity recognition and problem solving - key features of an entrepreneurial mindset that can empower anyone to succeed in life, whether they want to start a business or go to work for someone else.

The prototype is almost ready for testing, so we're looking for a group of folks to try it out. If you'd like to be part of the team, comment "I'm in!" and share this post to help us spread the word.

04/25/2026

"What happens when communities support their returning citizens?"

Together with our partners, we are not only asking that question, we are answering it.

04/22/2026

We are incredibly grateful to the community partners, event sponsors, volunteers, and guest speakers who made Together We Rise possible. Nearly 300 people passed through the doors last night in celebration of second chances.

More photos to come, but thanks to Chad Hickman, Todd Eichenlaub, and others for capturing a few of these moments from the panel discussion and resource fair.