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AMNA NAWAZ: In Nashville,
there's an unusual program that
helps women in recovery make

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a new start in life.

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As John Yang tells us, it's
powered by a sense of sisterhood
and a boutique line of home

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and body products.

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This story is part of our
look at poverty and economic
opportunity, Chasing the Dream.

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JOHN YANG: It's the morning
rush at Thistle Farms
in Nashville, Tennessee.

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The cafe is open for breakfast,
while the adjoining shop
sells hand-crafted home and

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body products made
across the street.

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But, first, workers
gather in a circle for
a moment of reflection.

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WOMAN: Good morning.

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I'm Jennifer.

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I'm on the development team.

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I'm a 2012 graduate.

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WOMAN: Good morning.

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I'm Kristin, 2015 graduate.

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JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms
is no ordinary business.

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It's a nonprofit staffed
by women who have
battled addiction, sexual
abuse or trafficking.

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WOMAN: Come next month, I will
have five years clean, yes.

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(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)

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JOHN YANG: For these
women, Thistle Farms is
more than just a paycheck.

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It's a lifeline.

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WOMAN: The love, the
compassion that I was shown.

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JOHN YANG: Kimberly Simkins
works on the production line.

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Two years ago, she was in
the throes of addiction.

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KIMBERLY SIMKINS, Thistle Farms
Employee: It was either, I
was going to make a commitment

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and get this right and really
try to rebuild and reshape my
life in the path that it was

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on, or I was going to give
up and die in addiction.

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JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms'
two-year program provides group
housing and access to free

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therapy and medical care.

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Shamika Simpson, who works
on the logistics team,
is about to graduate.

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SHAMIKA SIMPSON, Thistle Farms
Employee: I got so used to
living life in addiction and

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like with my eyes wide shut,
just living life every day,
but you're not seeing anything.

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And I lose -- I lost
touch of everything.

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I lost my kids.

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You know, they were taken by the
state, and then dysfunctionality
just became a way of

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life.

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JOHN YANG: She says not having
financial worries allowed
her to focus on her recovery.

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SHAMIKA SIMPSON: What they
taught me was, during these
two years, I don't want you to

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worry about how you're
going to pay your rent.

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I don't want you to
worry about how you're
going to buy groceries.

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What I want you to worry
about is how you're
going to heal yourself.

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JOHN YANG: Episcopal priest
Becca Stevens started the
program 22 years ago, driven,

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she says, by her own
history of being sexually
abused as a child.

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REV.

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BECCA STEVENS, Founder,
Thistle Farms: It was awful.

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It was scary, but also
there's some gifts in it
about how you read the world.

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I can use it for the good, I
can transform it, I can do all
kinds of stuff, but I don't

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have to get over it.

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JOHN YANG: At first, it was
just a single home providing
shelter and a safe place to

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recover.

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REV.

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BECCA STEVENS: Five women came
in, all with criminal histories
of trafficking, prostitution,

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and addiction.

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And everybody stayed.

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Nobody left.

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JOHN YANG: The
business came later.

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REV.

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BECCA STEVENS: Four years into
it, we're like, we cannot talk
about that we love women if

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we're not concerned about
their economic well-being.

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Nobody would hire them.

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They had no work experience.

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They knew how to hustle.

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And that's when we thought, we
will just start our own company
and make something beautiful

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for people's bodies.

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JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms aims
to do well by doing good.

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In the last fiscal
year, product and cafe
sales topped $4 million.

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That accounts for
about 70 percent of the
total operating budget.

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In 2017, Thistle Farms CEO Hal
Cato led a $3 million expansion.

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HAL CATO, CEO, Thistle
Farms: There are a lot of
businesses that have a mission.

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We're a mission with a business.

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We're not here to make
candles, you know?

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That's not what we
get up every day.

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We get up every day to make
candles because we know the
sale of that candle is going to

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help the next woman come in and
be a part of this community.

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JOHN YANG: Bill and Evie
Harman sell Thistle Farms
products at their store
in Lynden, Washington.

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They came to Nashville
for a first-hand look.

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EVIE HARMAN, Thistle
Farms Vendor: We recognize
that women especially
have a hard time finding

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a place where they can thrive.

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We have so much to learn about
how -- how can we make this
world work for these women

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who aren't thriving?

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And Becca has figured
out how to do it.

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JOHN YANG: Cafe manager Angela
Camarda didn't go through the
program, but she has her own

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history of drug addiction
and time in federal prison.

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When she applied for a job
at Thistle Farms, she found
a welcoming environment.

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ANGELA CAMARDA, Thistle Farms
Employee: My boss told me
whenever she interviewed me that

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it didn't matter
what my past was.

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That has nothing to
do with this job.

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Tell me what you're doing now.

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Tell me what you're doing
for your recovery now and how
you take care of yourself.

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JOHN YANG: Women in the program
say the most powerful thing
it provides is a feeling of

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sisterhood.

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KIMBERLY SIMKINS: Even before
my addiction, I was always
searching for something.

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And when my sister from Chicago
came to my graduation, she,
like, looks at me and tears

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running down her face.

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She's like: "You have
finally found your people."

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I said: "Yes.

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Yes, I did."

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JOHN YANG: From a single
residence, Thistle
Farms has grown to five
homes in Nashville,

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but the demand is
still far greater.

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REV.

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BECCA STEVENS: Honestly,
some of the women die waiting
to get in this program.

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There's over 100 women
on the waiting list.

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It says that the demand is
far exceeding our resources.

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JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms now
has more than 50 affiliated
groups across the country, and

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30 more partners around
the world, from Rwanda
to Ecuador and Cambodia.

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REV.

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BECCA STEVENS: It's never going
to be the woman just comes
off the streets by herself,

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because she didn't get
out there by herself.

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It took a whole community of
brokenness to get her out there.

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So why can't there be this
whole beautiful community
welcoming her home?

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JOHN YANG: And women about to
graduate from Thistle Farms
are looking toward the future.

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Kimberly Simkins plans
to pursue a degree in
clinical social work.

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KIMBERLY SIMKINS: I would like
to think that I am some sort
of mentor, that the things

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that I experienced in the
program and have been through,
and was able to push through

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all of those challenges
and complete the program,
that it's going to give
motivation to somebody

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else, like, hey, she did it.

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Maybe I can too.

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JOHN YANG: Shamika Simpson's
future includes her children,
who were returned to her last

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year.

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SHAMIKA SIMPSON: It's taught
me how to love myself, taught
me how to be a mother again.

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All my kids are back now.

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So, doors that I thought
were shut forever
have opened back up.

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JOHN YANG: Opened with the
power of sisterhood and the
support of the community.

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For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John
Yang in Nashville, Tennessee.