Kentucky second-chance employer gets another chance after closing because of COVID-19

The Methodist Mountain Mission is 77 years old. Executive Director Karen Bunn thought COVID-19 would be the end of the nonprofit’s legacy in Breathitt County.

The mission made the decision — one the leadership says was the right one — to lay off the majority of its employees, including second-chance jobs for those recovering from addiction, on March 18.

Instead of relying on financial donations, most of the nonprofit’s revenue comes from the sale of donated goods in its eight Opportunity Stores. When they closed because of the coronavirus, 95 percent of the organization’s revenue disappeared.

“It was very concerning,” Bunn said. “We had that moment that was like ‘oh no, Lord have mercy.’ I thought ‘I really don’t want to be the director that takes the mission out.’”

The fear among employees, many of whom see the mission as far more than just an employer, was real.

Paul Spicer has been at the Methodist Mountain Mission for more than a decade. He started cutting rags, a job that no longer exists in the warehouse that he now operates.

He calls the mission his sobriety.

At 19, he was incarcerated for drugs. Spicer has since gotten his GED, is building a house and has full custody of his son and adopted son.

“It’s all because of the Methodist Mountain Mission,” Spicer said. “With COVID-19, it was kind of scary. It was real scary. I never had to work anywhere else.”

Other second-chance employees, such as Jonathan Sparks, look up to Spicer. On July 16, he will be sober for two years, living a life more ordinary than in the madness, he said.

When COVID-19 became a reality, he worried himself to death, Sparks said. In addition to the financial uncertainty, his mother, who he lives with, has chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.

“Once we were (laid) off, I hated it,” Sparks said. “I did not like not working, but I’m just glad everything thing is getting back to normal now.”

A second chance

On April 20, Methodist Mountain Mission received a Paycheck Protection Program loan as part of the federal CARES Act.

The funding allowed it to get caught up on payments and bring back about 60 employees, without going in the hole.

The eight stores reopened Wednesday. They’re in Barboursville, Burkesville, Harlan, Hazard, Irvine, Jackson, Pineville and West Liberty.

The mission’s truck drivers got back on the road picking up donations, which continued to trickle in during the shutdown.

The warehouse is now packed: boxes on boxes, some nearing the ceiling of the two story building. One wrong box pulled out and they might all come tumbling down like a Jenga set.

Bunn doesn’t know what to expect as the stores reopen. A full warehouse, though, is better than an empty one, she said.

Employees were tackling the many boxes and truck loads of donations last Thursday.

“We’re glad to get back,” Bunn said. “We’re a family here. We got to do a hard job. We got to work. We try to do it, get along.”

Spicer said he was raised on the mission. His father and great uncle, who was a warehouse foreman like him, worked at Methodist Mountain Mission.

“There’s purpose to this job,” Spicer said. “You’re not just working, you have a purpose. A lot of people depend on the mission from the donors to the people that’s needing.”

This story was originally published July 3, 2020 at 11:00 AM.