AMNA NAWAZ: In Nashville,
there's an unusual program that
helps women in recovery make
a new start in life.
As John Yang tells us, it's
powered by a sense of sisterhood
and a boutique line of home
and body products.
This story is part of our
look at poverty and economic
opportunity, Chasing the Dream.
JOHN YANG: It's the morning
rush at Thistle Farms
in Nashville, Tennessee.
The cafe is open for breakfast,
while the adjoining shop
sells hand-crafted home and
body products made
across the street.
But, first, workers
gather in a circle for
a moment of reflection.
WOMAN: Good morning.
I'm Jennifer.
I'm on the development team.
I'm a 2012 graduate.
WOMAN: Good morning.
I'm Kristin, 2015 graduate.
JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms
is no ordinary business.
It's a nonprofit staffed
by women who have
battled addiction, sexual
abuse or trafficking.
WOMAN: Come next month, I will
have five years clean, yes.
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
JOHN YANG: For these
women, Thistle Farms is
more than just a paycheck.
It's a lifeline.
WOMAN: The love, the
compassion that I was shown.
JOHN YANG: Kimberly Simkins
works on the production line.
Two years ago, she was in
the throes of addiction.
KIMBERLY SIMKINS, Thistle Farms
Employee: It was either, I
was going to make a commitment
and get this right and really
try to rebuild and reshape my
life in the path that it was
on, or I was going to give
up and die in addiction.
JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms'
two-year program provides group
housing and access to free
therapy and medical care.
Shamika Simpson, who works
on the logistics team,
is about to graduate.
SHAMIKA SIMPSON, Thistle Farms
Employee: I got so used to
living life in addiction and
like with my eyes wide shut,
just living life every day,
but you're not seeing anything.
And I lose -- I lost
touch of everything.
I lost my kids.
You know, they were taken by the
state, and then dysfunctionality
just became a way of
life.
JOHN YANG: She says not having
financial worries allowed
her to focus on her recovery.
SHAMIKA SIMPSON: What they
taught me was, during these
two years, I don't want you to
worry about how you're
going to pay your rent.
I don't want you to
worry about how you're
going to buy groceries.
What I want you to worry
about is how you're
going to heal yourself.
JOHN YANG: Episcopal priest
Becca Stevens started the
program 22 years ago, driven,
she says, by her own
history of being sexually
abused as a child.
REV.
BECCA STEVENS, Founder,
Thistle Farms: It was awful.
It was scary, but also
there's some gifts in it
about how you read the world.
I can use it for the good, I
can transform it, I can do all
kinds of stuff, but I don't
have to get over it.
JOHN YANG: At first, it was
just a single home providing
shelter and a safe place to
recover.
REV.
BECCA STEVENS: Five women came
in, all with criminal histories
of trafficking, prostitution,
and addiction.
And everybody stayed.
Nobody left.
JOHN YANG: The
business came later.
REV.
BECCA STEVENS: Four years into
it, we're like, we cannot talk
about that we love women if
we're not concerned about
their economic well-being.
Nobody would hire them.
They had no work experience.
They knew how to hustle.
And that's when we thought, we
will just start our own company
and make something beautiful
for people's bodies.
JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms aims
to do well by doing good.
In the last fiscal
year, product and cafe
sales topped $4 million.
That accounts for
about 70 percent of the
total operating budget.
In 2017, Thistle Farms CEO Hal
Cato led a $3 million expansion.
HAL CATO, CEO, Thistle
Farms: There are a lot of
businesses that have a mission.
We're a mission with a business.
We're not here to make
candles, you know?
That's not what we
get up every day.
We get up every day to make
candles because we know the
sale of that candle is going to
help the next woman come in and
be a part of this community.
JOHN YANG: Bill and Evie
Harman sell Thistle Farms
products at their store
in Lynden, Washington.
They came to Nashville
for a first-hand look.
EVIE HARMAN, Thistle
Farms Vendor: We recognize
that women especially
have a hard time finding
a place where they can thrive.
We have so much to learn about
how -- how can we make this
world work for these women
who aren't thriving?
And Becca has figured
out how to do it.
JOHN YANG: Cafe manager Angela
Camarda didn't go through the
program, but she has her own
history of drug addiction
and time in federal prison.
When she applied for a job
at Thistle Farms, she found
a welcoming environment.
ANGELA CAMARDA, Thistle Farms
Employee: My boss told me
whenever she interviewed me that
it didn't matter
what my past was.
That has nothing to
do with this job.
Tell me what you're doing now.
Tell me what you're doing
for your recovery now and how
you take care of yourself.
JOHN YANG: Women in the program
say the most powerful thing
it provides is a feeling of
sisterhood.
KIMBERLY SIMKINS: Even before
my addiction, I was always
searching for something.
And when my sister from Chicago
came to my graduation, she,
like, looks at me and tears
running down her face.
She's like: "You have
finally found your people."
I said: "Yes.
Yes, I did."
JOHN YANG: From a single
residence, Thistle
Farms has grown to five
homes in Nashville,
but the demand is
still far greater.
REV.
BECCA STEVENS: Honestly,
some of the women die waiting
to get in this program.
There's over 100 women
on the waiting list.
It says that the demand is
far exceeding our resources.
JOHN YANG: Thistle Farms now
has more than 50 affiliated
groups across the country, and
30 more partners around
the world, from Rwanda
to Ecuador and Cambodia.
REV.
BECCA STEVENS: It's never going
to be the woman just comes
off the streets by herself,
because she didn't get
out there by herself.
It took a whole community of
brokenness to get her out there.
So why can't there be this
whole beautiful community
welcoming her home?
JOHN YANG: And women about to
graduate from Thistle Farms
are looking toward the future.
Kimberly Simkins plans
to pursue a degree in
clinical social work.
KIMBERLY SIMKINS: I would like
to think that I am some sort
of mentor, that the things
that I experienced in the
program and have been through,
and was able to push through
all of those challenges
and complete the program,
that it's going to give
motivation to somebody
else, like, hey, she did it.
Maybe I can too.
JOHN YANG: Shamika Simpson's
future includes her children,
who were returned to her last
year.
SHAMIKA SIMPSON: It's taught
me how to love myself, taught
me how to be a mother again.
All my kids are back now.
So, doors that I thought
were shut forever
have opened back up.
JOHN YANG: Opened with the
power of sisterhood and the
support of the community.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John
Yang in Nashville, Tennessee.