The COVID-19 pandemic has interrupted all of our social lives to an extent, limiting our face-to-face interaction. But a local church continues to support people in recovery stay connected through their Hope Home.

George Clover is a guy who has experienced a lot in life. He has a heart for those around him. A hard worker, he is a former business owner and security guard.

But what you might not know from looking at him is he's also two-and-a-half months in recovery for drug and alcohol addiction.

"When we're in active addiction, we're not living life with any purpose. We're trying to escape reality and try to escape purpose," said Clover.

He lives with seven other men in a Hope Home offered by Two Rivers Church in Johnson City. Weekly, he gets out on the farm to do some work.

"To serve others is the best way to get out of our own stuff and not dwell our focus, maybe necessarily, on the issues of life that are painful for ourselves," he said.

The community he has at the Hope Home has made recovery during the pandemic more bearable, especially getting outside. 

"Part of the community service work that we do is to work on the farm. And with that, we get the opportunity to be outdoors a lot," said Clover.

Clover has dealt with heartbreak throughout his life. He said the drug use started in high school, when he was fighting for his parents attention.

"I started using cocaine. Late high school it was introduced to me. It became my particular drug of choice," he said.

Later in life, he experienced heartbreak with a broken marriage and loss of his infant son. 

"That had a profound effect, in terms of the loss and the pain of that," he said.

Clover credits his life change to his faith. It's rare to see him without his Bible. The Hope Home program lasts nine months and helps people like George face their past, while pursuing a future with purpose.