CLARKSVILLE, Ohio — Jason Hollingsworth is sweating.
We’re sitting on the ramp of his landscaping truck when he points out the grass covering my arms. He laughs when I tell him I’ve only been here for 10 minutes and smiles when I ask if he likes his job anyway.
“Yeah,” Hollingsworth said. “It beats living in the woods.”
Hollingsworth and his cousin are almost done mowing the grass at the post office in Clarksville. They’ve both spent years living on the streets before. And now, they’re both celebrating several years of sobriety.
“I credit a lot of that to this truck,” said Levi Hollingsworth.
He uses a leaf blower to spray grass off me.
WATCH: This ministry started its own landscaping business to combat rural homelessness
Homelessness is often hidden in small towns across Ohio, but it still exists. And some outreach workers say we aren’t doing enough to help.
“We don’t have the resources here to help them,” said Sara Peters, an outreach specialist with Community Health Alliance. “Anybody that needs any kind of substance use or mental health residential (treatment) has to go out of the county.”
That’s when they end up at Sugartree Ministries. In Wilmington, it’s one of the only places for people experiencing homelessness or substance use disorder.
When I visit, one woman is sleeping on the ground by the backdoor. There are donuts and a water jug.
Dinner will be served in a few hours.
Lee Sandlin is the executive director. He helps oversee the landscaping business, and a group of women who clean buildings around the area. Across the street, the ministry runs a men’s shelter. And they're working on helping people in domestic violence situations.
When I meet Sandlin, he stops our interview to take multiple phone calls about a refrigerator the ministry bought for someone. He says his job is 24/7.
“There’s not much we don’t do,” Sandlin said. “There are people who say they’ve never seen a miracle, and the truth is I get to see miracles every single day in this building.”
He's talking about people like Jason Hollingsworth, who runs the landscaping crew and now helps give second chances to others in recovery. At the post office, Jason puts his lawn mower away and closes the truck door.
They have 12 more jobs to go.
Jason takes a deep breath. Not because he's tired, but because he's thinking about where he came from again.
“There were so many times I wanted to give up,” Jason said. “I’m grateful I don’t live that life anymore.”
