WHO WE ARE

WE ARE A
STAFFING AGENCY
ON A MISSION

Overcoming workforce barriers together with resilient jobseekers and engaged employers to foster a thriving community.

By providing job opportunities and peer coaching to everyone, Working Fields empowers individuals to address systemic barriers, supports employers by developing the workforce, and enriches and strengthens the local community.

This person-first approach takes staffing to the next level. It’s also built into our business: we are a Benefit Corporation and reinvest the majority of our profits into our mission. 


MEET OUR STAFF
I CAME TO WORK WITH INDIVIDUALS IN RECOVERY BY WAY OF MY OWN RECOVERY
In my past is a 20-year history of substance use addiction, from the age of 14 until 34, when I finally sought treatment to stop abusing substances. Yet recovery is so much more than just getting clean. True recovery involves working on all aspects of your life, and I had not yet taken those deeper steps.

Ignoring the underlying issues of my substance abuse and addiction led to a string of poor decisions with serious consequences to myself and my loved ones. My choices led to a two-year sentence in federal prison for mail fraud (which is a fancy way of saying that I stole money from the company I was working for).
MY CHOICES LEAD TO DEFEAT AND THEN SURRENDER
Making poor decisions doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a conscience. In fact, I was aware that my actions were wrong, and stealing the money was eating me alive. But at the time I didn’t have the strength to turn myself in. Instead, I did what many alcoholics or addicts would do, and just moved on, hoping that walking away would be the secret to curbing my behavior. I was tired of living a double life and didn’t really care if I got caught.

The good news is that I did get caught, several months later. This brought me to the point of total surrender.

RECOVERY IS PROGRESSIVE AND LIFE-LONG
My intensive recovery journey restarted the day that everything came crashing down. Because I already had previous experience in AA and with counseling, I knew what I had to do. It took nearly two years to begin my prison sentence and by that time I was living out a renewed life of recovery. Yet recovery is a process, not a moment, and even though I had made many changes, it wasn’t until two years later when a friend in prison challenged me over a seemingly small decision that I saw the depths of what my recovery required.
ONE PIECE OF UNCUT FRUIT
We were leaving the mess hall, where I had accepted another inmate’s unwanted piece of fruit. As we headed to our cells, my friend stopped me. The prison’s rule was that each inmate may only take one piece of uncut fruit. I had two. But it was no big deal--everybody did it--I reminded him. He looked at me and asked, why are you here? I stopped cold. Stealing. I was in prison for stealing.

My friend reminded me that I of all people should know that breaking this rule was a slippery slope to justifying my choices. His words had a lasting impact on me. That day I made a decision to live by the motto: one piece of uncut fruit. I knew I wouldn’t be perfect, but I wanted to start with a guiding premise that would lead me to complete honesty and truly learning from my mistakes.
GRATEFUL FOR MY SECOND CHANCE
The second chance I have been given to overcome my obstacles and walk the path of long-term recovery into a new life is a gift, which I strive to pay forward to others. I’m forever grateful for the opportunity to use the lessons I’ve learned to help others who need a second chance after a life of addiction or criminal convictions stemming from past mistakes.


secondchances@workingfields.com

(888) 847-8595

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