Southside Recovery Home Gives Men And Women A Fresh Start

CHICAGO (CBS) — It's proof one person really can make a difference.

Seventeen years ago, Henry McGhee began a program to help people turn their lives around, and today it is still going strong. CBS 2's Derrick Young reports.

A Southside recovery home is giving men and women a fresh start.

"I'm working now. I don't miss work. I have fun at work. It's just been an all around good experience," says client Brian Olcikas.

Brian got his job with the help of Henry's Sober Living House.

The sober living home provides substance-free, safe transition homes for ex offenders and people recovering from addiction.

It was founded in 2001 by Henry McGhee, a recovering drug addict, who has been clean for nineteen years.

Since then more than 8,000 clients have turned their lives around and see a brighter future.

"To see people's lives changed and turned around. To see people reunited with their families. To see the trust of one's family being given back to an individual who was once lost," says McGhee.

"If you're willing and you really, really want to do something with yourself you can do it, you can," David Readus, client.

Henry's sober living house recently opened their first women's facility and now offers outpatient treatment as well.

Including the new facility, there are now five in the Chicago area.