HDA’s Hope Building Program acts as a bridge between men and women leading lives in recovery and finding gainful, meaningful employment in the community. Through the first two years of our program, nearly half of our program’s trainees have gone on to be hired full-time or have completed college programs. Their current jobs range from construction work to maintenance and peer support.

We want to see our trainees working in our mountain communities – or in any community they choose to live – in a wide array of jobs that give them an opportunity to earn a living wage, fulfill their life’s goals and ambitions, and provide for themselves and their families. At the same time, they will be making our entire region stronger by adding skilled labor to its workforce, and more importantly, they will have a much greater chance of remaining in recovery. 

Hope Building trainees are doing so much more than improving their own lives – they are building new, affordable homes for middle-income families. These families fall just outside the HUD income limits for our income-based Homeownership Program. The homes our trainees build give these families a chance to build greater financial stability and more opportunities for themselves and others in East Kentucky.

See how our trainees’ journeys have been impacted by this unique program made possible by a POWER grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission.