You have heard me say it before, “work is therapy”, but I want to dig a little deeper into what that means for our clients and those who are seeking a better life for their families and themselves.
I don’t only mean that when a person works they feel better about themselves because they are earning a wage; what I am trying to convey in that simple statement is that work – be it on our factory floor, sitting behind a desk, picking up litter, or removing graffiti – connects one with civil society and provides a pathway to hope. Finding dignity in work is what makes work “therapy”. We frame ourselves by the work we do. For many, especially those with more social capital and better backgrounds, work is a way for us to earn an income, care for our families, have access to healthcare, prepare for retirement, and provide a good education for our children. Hopefully we find careers that we actually enjoy, but we clearly see how what we do fits into and plays a role in making our society better. It is what makes most of us wake up every morning.
But for those who haven’t found a path to a high-paying salary job with benefits, those who have fallen behind, it is harder to find work that is meaningful. For many entering the workforce with poverty, abuse, or addiction in their lives – many who also have a felony – much of the work available is framed as “dead end jobs”. Perhaps they are dirty, could be mechanized or replaced by robots, or are otherwise seen as undesirable. These jobs are framed in derogatory terms. They lack dignity.
Worse, for many we serve, a job is only about how they are going to pay the fines and fees imposed on them by our governmental policies. Putting food on the table and paying other bills are a luxury. For too many who are returning to a community after incarceration, work does not pay, not only because fines and fees take so much of what is earned in low wages jobs, but also in the lack of respect received for that work. This crisis was written about by sociologist William Julius Wilson in his famed work When Work Disappears. Wilson was writing about our inner cities in the late 20th century, but increasingly Wilson’s work can frame those who come from a hometown in a rural setting.
RecycleForce has seen an increase in the number of returning citizens who are from rural communities. They are from communities that once thrived thanks to local factory jobs and employment opportunities in the skilled trades. These communities have experienced a decline, not only in the number of available jobs and the pay for those jobs, but also in the social services available to help those who have fallen behind. Many who experience hopelessness self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. Some have turned to crime to make ends meet. Pulitzer Prize author Nicholas Kristof has written about this growing issue in his book Tightrope. I encourage you to read it.
Rural communities and the people who live in them deserve our support. When those in our rural areas find work that provides them with a livable wage and hope for a better life for themselves and their families, we all benefit.
Policies and initiatives intended to benefit the disadvantaged and to help lift people out of poverty are having a positive impact on the people in urban communities where resources and support services are more readily accessible. The City of Indianapolis’ Pathway to Employment project is just one example of this. However, such initiatives that address mental health and substance use issues and help move people out of poverty are rarely available to those living in rural areas. We have a long way to go to lift folks in our cities out of poverty, but increasingly those living in poverty in our cities are coming from rural areas to find help that is seemingly only available in cities. This is an issue we all need to recognize and begin to address. Our new partnership with Brightmark Energy, which is opening a new facility in Ashley, in northeastern Indiana, is one way to provide living wage employment and hope to those who have made a mistake .
Let’s keep this conversation going! I invite you come to RecycleForce for a tour of our facilities, meet our incredible staff, and sit in the Circle with our employees to hear their stories about how they are working to create a path to hope.