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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.