RESTAURANT RECOVERY

There are 14 million people in the restaurant industry (which makes up about 10% of the US workforce). We are an economic powerhouse (restaurants contribute nearly $2 trillion to the economy) (NRA) but we need help. According to SAMHSA, the restaurant industry has -The highest rates of past month illicit drug use (19.1%) -the highest rates of past year substance use disorder (16.9%) -the third highest rates of heavy alcohol use (11.8%) Coupled with that, -Treatment is extremely cost-prohibitive -The ACA doesn’t require businesses with fewer than 50 employees to offer health insurance, and 9 out of 10 restaurants have fewer than 50 employees (NRA) -Most restaurant employees make $11.75/hour (BLS) Nearly 2 million of our people are struggling with mental health issues and we are not providing them with the resources they need.