Knoxville

Offering Dignity Through Work

Well Works Program:

Well Works is a work environment where participants actively engage in their recovery, develop soft and technical work skills, actively remove life barriers, and experience the love of Jesus that leads to transformation and stability in life.  Team members in the Well Works program find dignity while earning a paycheck performing light manufacturing work.  The overall goal for each team member is to gain stability in their recovery while also learning essential work skills and life skills that will help them get and keep a job when they graduate from the program.

Recovery:

Well Works partners with Discover Hope 517, an addiction recovery ministry dedicated to providing support in recovery and restoration to those struggling with addiction, unhealthy behaviors, and life controlling issues.   Discover Hope 517 provides all recovery support services for those struggling with such things as substance abuse, co-dependency, unhealthy relationships, anger, control, sexual addiction, pornography, video gaming addiction, anxiety, depression, and more.  Discover Hope 517 helps team members focus on what recovery looks like in their lives through Bible based recovery classes, support groups, and mentoring.  Each team member’s recovery journey is unique to them depending on what has caused them to struggle.

Work Skills:

Each team member in the Well Works program will have the opportunity to build work skills in the areas of being a good teammate, working safely, being productive, providing quality work, and having great attendance.  Team members will focus on learning specific soft work skills such as building work stamina, responding well to coaching, giving positive input for process improvement, communicating effectively, and resolving workplace conflict in positive ways.  Team members will also focus on learning specific technical work skills such as product assembly, material handling, equipment operation, and manufacturing terminology.  In addition to manufacturing work opportunities, team members may also have the opportunity to gain experience in other work areas including work in retail operations.

Life Skills:

Team members will meet with Resource Center Care Coordinators to identify areas in their lives where they are struggling with instability.  Areas of instability for team members may include such things as absence of spiritual disciplines, inadequate support systems of positive people, difficulty negotiating or mediating everyday life situations, difficulty controlling emotional responses, difficulty managing money, and difficulty understanding the hidden rules of the community.  Once an area of instability is identified, team members will come up with a plan with specific goals to remove that area of instability from their lives.  Goals are driven by each team member, and Care Coordinators provide the support and accountability needed to help each team member succeed with their goals.

Removing Barriers:

Team members will also work with Resource Center Care Coordinators to identify and remove barriers in their lives that are preventing them from finding stability.  Barriers may include such things as unstable housing, lack of reliable transportation, inadequate childcare, lack of adequate mental health care, and inadequate education.   Once a barrier is identified, team members will come up with a plan with the assistance of Care Coordinators to remove that barrier from their lives.

Graduation:

Most team members will generally be in the Well Works program for 12-18 months as gaining stability in recovery, learning new skills, and removing areas of instability takes time.  When team members are ready to graduate from the program, they will be assisted with creating a resume, submitting applications, preparing for interviews, and connecting with a future employer.

If you are interested in or would like to learn more about the Well Works program, please email info@thewelliowa.org or call 641-621-0164.