Social entrepreneurs offer solutions for drug and alcohol addiction

BY DAN TAYLOR, ENERGIZING ENTREPRENEURIAL COMMUNITIES PROGRAM COORDINATOR, THE HUB

As part of our work with the Hub’s Entrepreneurial Communities program, we work with many different kinds of entrepreneurs and some who might not even think of what they do as entrepreneurship. This is one of those stories.

While the word conjures up small business, and this is often the case, communities need social entrepreneurs as well. Those who see a need in a community and fill it successful, either through a non profit structure or others.

Preston Gore and Bill Mullins are two social entrepreneurs who saw a problem in their community which was drug addiction, and the fact that Boone County had no sober living recovery homes to help combat this problem. And as social entrepreneurs, they also saw a solution. Opening “Hero House” in 2017, after remodeling an abandoned home that was gifted to them, Hero House is designed to house up to six people in recovery.

From a recent article on Hero House by Phil Perry in Coal Valley News:

A small house in Danville is offering a chance for those struggling with drug and alcohol addiction to put their struggles behind them and start a new chapter in their life through faith-based recovery.

“I think our name may be confusing to some people who may think that we serve only veterans,” said House Manager Johnny Hollingshead. “What the name means to me is that we give addicts a chance to become their own success story. Most of our residents have brothers and sisters, kids and parents that need them. We give them the opportunity to jump into the phone booth and change their lives and reappear as Superman.”

Despite the Hero House not being a home specifically for veterans, Hollingshead is a US Navy Veteran with 11 years of active duty and multiple deployments.

 “I came back to southern West Virginia and I became a statistic,” said the Raleigh County native.

Read more about their inspiring story on the Coal Valley News site.