Aaron Johnson, PhD, associate dean for research and community engagement at Augusta University’s School of Public Health, is a co-investigator on a research team that recently received nearly $530,000 from the Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts to support the Georgia Recovery-Ready Workplace Initiative, or GROW.

This two-year project, led by the Center for Addiction Recovery at Georgia Southern University, aims to boost job opportunities for people recovering from substance use disorders. It will also assist employers in Georgia in becoming more supportive of recovery in the workplace.

“GROW is a model that bridges public health, workforce development and recovery support,” said Johnson, who is the director of the Institute of Public and Preventive Health within AU’s School of Public Health. “We are looking forward to working with Dr. Rob Bohler and his team at Georgia Southern and to continuing our long-term partnership with Georgia Council for Recoveryand many of the RCOs who will be part of this project. Our team at Augusta University is proud to contribute to the evaluation of this innovative approach, which has the potential to be replicated nationwide.”

The GROW Initiative is a collaborative partnership between Georgia Southern, the Georgia Council for Recovery and IPPH. The project is led by Robert Bohler, PhD, an assistant professor in Georgia Southern’s Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health and executive director of CAR.

The project will use a unique “hub-and-spoke” model, with GC4R acting as the central hub and at least 10 local recovery community organizations across Georgia acting as spokes to engage employers in both rural and urban communities.

“Stable employment is crucial for long-term recovery,” said Bohler. “This project will help individuals overcome employment barriers and equip employers with the knowledge and tools to create recovery-friendly environments.”

The initiative will:

• Hire a full-time employment specialist to help individuals in recovery find jobs, get vocational training and overcome legal and educational barriers
  Partner with at least 10 large employers to become designated recovery-friendly workplaces
  Provide comprehensive training to employers on topics such as addiction science, stigma reduction, recovery-oriented policies and the benefits of hiring individuals in recovery
  Develop a toolkit and website to support ongoing education and expansion of recovery-friendly workplaces in Georgia

Georgia offers an ideal environment for launching this initiative, given its economic growth, workforce development priorities and robust recovery community network. With 18 Fortune 500 companies and a growing number of large manufacturing sites, the state presents a powerful opportunity to align economic development with public health.

“Alcohol and drug misuse costs United States businesses over $81 billion per year,” said Laurisa Guerrero, GC4R executive director. “This initiative supports both employees and the businesses that participate. By building bridges between businesses and the recovery community, we’re providing an added layer of support that many people desperately need.”

By embedding recovery support into the workplace and addressing employment barriers, GROW aims to improve individual recovery outcomes, expand access to meaningful work and serve as a national model for building and sustaining recovery-friendly workplaces. The GROW Initiative is actively seeking employers across Georgia who want to join this movement to support recovery, reduce stigma and strengthen their workforce.