The Opposite of Addiction is Community: Building Lasting Change

When Jeff Piker, Community Success Manager with Restore Hope, stood before a room of family advocates, service providers, and care coordinators, his message was clear: community is the cornerstone of lasting change.

Piker’s presentation, titled “Collaboration in Action: Where Referrals and Relationships Change Outcomes,” traced his own journey from local church ministry in Pope County, Arkansas to helping build Restore Hope’s 100 Families Initiative model statewide. His story illustrated how deep frustration—wanting to help families reunite, find jobs, or stabilize housing but not knowing how—sparked a movement that is now transforming lives across Arkansas and beyond.

From Frustration to Action

In 2020, Piker and his team at Journey Church in Russellville felt the limits of traditional outreach. “We knew how to love people and care for people,” he said, “but when it came to helping a mom reunite with her kids or finding a job for a family in crisis, we didn’t know what to do.”

He said that changed when they encountered the 100 Families Initiative, an alliance-based model that connects local organizations through software called HopeHub, a shared case management platform for communicating across sectors about the specific needs of a family in crisis.

Despite initial funding barriers, Journey Church offered to run the program without outside money if Restore Hope would provide training and access to the system. By March 2021, Pope County enrolled its first family. Within months, hundreds of families were served, setting a precedent that would lead Restore Hope to adopt “backbone organizations” in counties across Arkansas to lead the work in their communities.

The Power of “Why”

Piker emphasized that true transformation requires more than programs and processes. He shared the story of a lesson he learned from a friend who overcame opioid addiction. When asked the opposite of addiction, Piker guessed “sobriety.” His friend corrected him: “The opposite of addiction is community.”

That idea reshaped Piker’s work. “It’s not just about giving people tools,” he said. “It’s about surrounding them with a community that celebrates victories and walks with them when they stumble.” For families who have burned bridges, community becomes both a lifeline and a motivator to keep going.

The Results

The model behind Restore Hope's 100 Families Initiative has now served more than 10,000 families across Arkansas, Michigan, Tennessee, and Canada. In Arkansas alone:

• 71% reunification rate for families involved with child welfare

• 84% job retention among employed participants

• 123% increase in financial stability across enrolled families

“These aren’t short-term fixes,” Piker noted. “We’re seeing generational change—helping families not just find food for today, but a way of life that impacts their kids and grandkids.”

Why It Works

For Piker, the “how” of the 100 Families Initiative is found in dashboards and data, but the “why” is the network of relationships behind the numbers. Care teams, school staff, recovery centers, DCFS workers, churches, and community members form a web of support that no single organization could provide alone.

“Because the opposite of being homeless, unemployed, or in poverty is community,” Piker said. “When we build community, everybody wins.”

Building Together

Piker closed with a reminder that relationships take work. “The only relationship in my life that doesn’t take work is with my dog,” he joked. “Every other one does. But it’s those relationships that make a difference, and with community, everyone carries the load together.”

His call to action: find people in your community who can make you better, connect with them, and remember that lasting change comes not from individual effort but from shared purpose.