I need someone to help me make a plan
Connexion West offers recovery services and outpatient care, youth services, workforce development, a food pantry, and a welcoming place to start.
Fairfield County, Ohio · Reentry Coalition
A stronger return starts with a real next step.
Coming home can mean rebuilding everything at once—ID, transportation, work, housing, health, family, and trust. You should not have to figure it out alone. Start here, choose what matters today, and connect with people who can help you move forward.
No shame. No wrong door. No sensitive information is collected on this page.
01Walk inConnexion West
02Make a planTogether, on GhostyBoy
03Clear barriersCoalition partners
04Build a futureThe Forge
Start with what is urgent
What would make this week more stable?
Choose one place to begin. These links take you to current community providers; they do not require you to explain your whole story first.
Housing, food, clothing, or benefits
Search Fairfield County’s free, confidential 2-1-1 directory or talk with a trained navigator 24 hours a day.
Search Fairfield 2-1-1A ride to work, court, or an appointment
The LINK provides fixed-route and curb-to-curb public transit throughout Fairfield County.
Plan a ride with The LINKA job, resume, training, or education
OhioMeansJobs Fairfield County offers job-search help, training and education connections, and employer services.
Open OhioMeansJobsRecord sealing or civil legal help
The Fairfield County Legal Help Center provides free help with eligible civil issues, including expungement and record sealing.
Visit the Legal Help CenterRecovery, mental health, or a crisis
Connexion West provides outpatient and recovery support. For a mental-health crisis, call the local line or 988 now.
Want the county’s pocket resource guide?
Request the guide
Fairfield County’s Reentry Coordinator can provide the official quick-reference guide for individuals and agencies.
Your first-week plan
Small moves create breathing room.
You do not need to solve your whole life this week. Bring this list to a navigator, peer supporter, family member, probation officer, or someone you trust.
Start a private support intakeThe intake opens in GhostyBoy Shield, the secure coordination tool used for reentry support. Only share information you are comfortable providing.
Your checkmarks stay only on this device and reset when you leave the page.
GhostyBoy · the coordination spine
One plan should move with the person.
Reentry breaks down when every agency has one piece of the story and nobody owns the follow-through. GhostyBoy—built and operated by GrowthWorks—helps authorized partners, with Connexion West as the anchor front door, coordinate intake, consent, referrals, appointments, documents, milestones, and next steps—while people remain at the center of the plan.
1ListenWhat matters now?
2ConnectWho can help?
3Follow upDid it happen?
4Build forwardWhat comes next?
The Forge · envisioned at Connexion West
Reentry should lead somewhere—not just away from something.
The Forge is the social-enterprise floor GrowthWorks is ready to build with Connexion West at the center: learn through real work, produce something the county needs, build a portfolio, and help create the next paid opportunity.
Community data steward
Verify local resources, keep referral information useful, learn responsible AI tools, and help neighbors find the right door.
Skills: digital literacy · research · navigationGrow and green systems
Learn hydroponics, water and sensor checks, food safety, harvesting, packing, and community delivery operations.
Skills: food systems · sensors · operationsMaker and storefront work
Move from an idea to a sellable product through print production, fabrication, fulfillment, pricing, and customer service.
Skills: production · sales · micro-enterpriseAutomation and facilities
Build hands-on confidence with tools, safety, basic maintenance, sensors, robotics trainers, and future field-service work.
Skills: safety · maintenance · mechatronicsBuilding now
Help shape The Forge around real barriers to work.
Returning neighbors, employers, instructors, makers, and funders belong at the design table. Training should match the jobs, schedules, transportation, and responsibilities people actually have.
The partnership, plainly
Two organizations. One promise. Zero wrong doors.
Neither of us can do this alone—and neither of us has to. Connexion West brings the place and the people. GrowthWorks brings the engine underneath. Fairfield County gets one front door that actually follows through.
The place and the people
- A welcoming front door on Lancaster’s west side—walk in and be known
- Recovery services and outpatient care
- Youth services and family connection
- Workforce development and the food pantry
- Trust earned in the neighborhood, person by person
The engine underneath
- GhostyBoy—the consent-first coordination platform behind the plan
- The Forge—a social-enterprise floor for learning through real work
- Grant, evidence, and outcomes infrastructure funders can trust
- Coalition operations, data stewardship, and follow-through
- Design, build, and technology for whatever the county needs next
Together: one front door, one plan per person, warm handoffs in both directions, and one honest outcomes story for the county and its funders—signed by both names.
For coalition members and community partners
Turn good intentions into a working local system.
The Coalition can make every door smarter by sharing verified resources, warm referral paths, training opportunities, employer commitments, and honest information about where people get stuck. Start with either partner—call Connexion West at 740-201-2778 or email GrowthWorks below. The plan is shared either way.
Make a warm handoff
Connect a returning neighbor to the right person, with consent and a clear next action—not another phone-number list.
Open referral intake ↗Keep resources current
Tell us when eligibility, hours, contacts, transportation, or program capacity changes so the shared directory stays useful.
Submit a resource updateCreate a fair-chance lane
Offer a worksite tour, mock interview, paid project, apprenticeship, job, or honest explanation of what your workplace requires.
Become an employer partnerSponsor practical access
Fund a bus pass, certification, tool kit, ID fee, phone, work clothes, station seat, or the community infrastructure behind the work.
Talk partnership
No wrong door
Start with one conversation.
If you are returning home, helping someone who is, or ready to make the county’s reentry system stronger, there is a place for you in this work.
This community page is a navigation and partnership resource from Connexion West and GrowthWorks Collective. It does not replace emergency services, legal advice, medical care, or official county information. If someone is in immediate danger, call 911.