Feeding the Flock
Residents in men’s housing got a special treat recently. Billy Baker, 58, of WarrenCounty, Ohio, paid them a visit and cooked them a special meal. A volunteer at Father’s Kitchen in Wilmington, Ohio, Baker is a retired union road painter with a love for the skilled trades and a strong heart to help people struggling with addiction. “If it wasn’t for the trades, I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere in life,” Baker said. “Today, I do what I can to help people struggling with addiction. However, I give all the glory to God.” After touring Emerge recently and becoming extremely impressed with what he saw, Baker decided to cook a large meal for the men and fellowship with them. This is something he hopes to do it again in the near future. The following story explains how Baker got connected to Emerge and his unique way of being of service to those in need and his work with Father’s Kitchen in Wilmington, Ohio.
Local man shares his love through food in men’s recovery housing
If it wasn’t for the skilled trades, Billy Baker said he would not have gotten anywhere in life.
“I’ve always been very interested in the trades,” said Baker, who is 58 and lives in Kettering. “When I was growing up in Mainville, Ohio, this is what interested me, and it’s how I got started. It’s very unfortunate today that they have taken the trades out of the schools. There are so many people in our society who don’t know what to do. It takes job skills to make money and pay your bills. You can’t just depend on the computer.”
Because of his interest in the trades, Baker said he was amazed when he visited the Emerge Recovery & Trade Initiative campus recently.
“When I walked through Emerge three months ago, I couldn’t believe it,” Baker said. “A friend of mine had called me and told me about it and took me there. I talked to Elaine Bonner, director of philanthropy. She had me come out and do a walk through with them. I was amazed. I saw all the HVAC, the men’s housing area, the call center, the trades and thought, this place has everything!”
Baker was so impressed, in fact, that he insisted on coming back to cook a meal for the men, a tradition he started years ago as part of his own ongoing efforts to help people who have struggled with addiction. Addiction is a subject that strikes very close to home for Baker.
“I went there a month ago and fed 40 of the men in the housing unit on a Saturday,” he said. “I talked with them and hung out with them. I shared my story. It’s not easy for people to come out of prison or come out of addiction and start over.”
Baker said he’s been working to help people with substance use disorder for the past 10 years and he’s a volunteer at Sugartree Ministries’ Your Father’s Kitchen.
“I went to jail a long time ago for trafficking,” he said. “I was a broken individual wanting money. Eventually, I purchased a home iin Wilmington, Ohio, that I was looking to flip.”
Rather than selling it for profit, Baker explained, God had other plans for the home.
“I use that property to help people in recovery,” he said. “I make food and I talk with them as well. I’ve helped people get out of that lifestyle, which is extremely rewarding work.”
Baker explained that addiction strikes close to home to him because he has a daughter who struggles with addiction.
“I have a daughter that’s struggling,” he said. “She’s 29; her mom is an addict. It’s heart wrenching. When I talk to people in recovery and I feed them like I’ve been doing, I’ve had 40 or 50 people who’ve come back and changed their ways. I give all the credit to God, and it just blows my mind. I’ve had people overdose off one line, and others who’ve quit. I can’t even count how many times I’ve watched people have to get hit with Narcan. That’s why I am so grateful there are places like Emerge. The people in this program are so blessed to be where they are. The things they are learning there are giving them confidence and teaching them to live.”
During his Saturday afternoon visit to the men’s housing area for dinner, Baker said he smoked 50 pounds of pork butt and made three gallons of baked beans.
“I also had five pounds of coleslaw,” he said. “I made all this stuff homemade. They loved it. I am a good cook and I look like one of them – as a construction worker. I sent Elaine an email telling her that I would love to come and do it again at the end of May.”
Walking into the men’s space for the meal, Baker said he was nervous at first.
“I walked in there without knowing anyone,” he said. “I talked with 20 of them. One of the guys had made it through the program and was working there. He told me that it gave him hope. That really got me. I deal with people in recovery a lot. There’s good and bad. But I think everyone is good when they are willing to change their ways. The ones I work with in Wilmington are amazing as well and that has me wanting to do it even more.”
Baker said this type of work is rewarding because the good he’s able to do always comes back to him.
“I do this because I feel it’s the right thing to do, and I feel that’s why Emerge is doing what it’s doing: This is the right thing to do.”