Its for-profit hydroponics company, RecoveryPark Farms, is supplying lettuce to about three dozen local restaurants currently through an exclusive distribution agreement with Del Bene Produce Inc. Four of its nine remaining employees are involved in the hydroponics, and the rest in fundraising, bookkeeping, land maintenance and business modeling for the greenhouses. A third of the nine are returning citizens.

RecoveryPark is operating on a budget of just under $1.2 million for fiscal 2019 which began Oct. 1. That includes the costs of training and equipment and supplies that will be needed for the first greenhouse, Wozniak said.

"I'm a recovering addict and returning citizen," Wozniak said. "People like me need access to permanent employment."

While companies like Flex-N-Gate hire people coming out of prison, they don't necessarily offer the support services those people need to transition back into regular society, Wozniak said.

"We do that. We provide both the job and the support services for up to three years to get people back to 100 percent functioning in the community."

While they stave off the closure of the nonprofit, Wozniak and his team are working with Birmingham-based Mid-States Advisors Inc., Plante Moran PLLC, Montana-based Evergreen International and Guaranteed Lending Specialists LLC to line up financing of $13.7 million to build the first of seven to 10 planned greenhouses and to acquire about 15 acres of land from the city to do it.

The first greenhouse would be built on land it owns at the intersection of East Palmer and Dubois streets, about one block north of RecoveryPark's building at Chene and East Ferry streets. The plan calls for construction of several greenhouses on 19 acres over five to seven years, creating 170 full-time, hydroponics-related jobs for people with employment barriers. The operation would build to offering living-wage jobs as it ramped up and as envisioned, would ultimately transfer ownership of the hydroponics operation to employees.

So far, RecoveryPark has lined up tentative commitments for two-thirds of the $13.7 million. The bulk, $8.2 million, would come through loans approved by two out-of-state banks, contingent upon the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Small Business Administration agreeing to secure the loans.

"Because we're an urban project that's hiring a challenged workforce and providing product in a market that's generally not well-served by the type of produce we sell, the RecoveryPark model falls within the sweet spot of those federal guarantee programs," Wozniak said.

The big hurdle is always getting bank approval, said Patrick Kenney, managing partner at Maine-based Guaranteed Lending Specialists, who said he has more than 30 years of experience in commercial lending, much of it tied to loans that secured backing from the USDA.

"We're not at all concerned RecoveryPark won't meet program guidelines" for securing loan guarantees from the USDA and SBA, he said.

"It's not a typical small manufacturing firm you see every day. ... The USDA and SBA like these kinds of things. It's different and something they can point to with pride."

RecoveryPark also secured $1.25 million in private equity commitments from one local investor and one out of state. It's seeking $4.25 million in private investment and seeking contract concessions achieved through the conversion of debt owed to vendors and contractors for things like design and greenhouse construction into an equity position in RecoveryPark Farms.

"Collectively, we believe April 1 is a reasonable deadline to complete the capital raise," Wozniak said.

"We thought, incorrectly, that foundations would step up to the plate more quickly than they have. We had to do a little bit of a pivot to get into the marketplace we are in now with private investors and debt."

RecoveryPark is now having good success with out-of-state lenders and with private equity partners, he said. "We believe with both of those, we're going to take it over the top."

Through its financial struggles, RecoveryPark is tracking the people who've cycled through its farming employment program since 2016. The program provides three years worth of supportive services. RecoveryPark itself assists them with things like transportation vouchers, opening a bank account and cleaning up their credit. And it connects them with other community supports such as housing assistance or supportive programs for people with addictions.

Of the 20 who've come through the program so far, none has been re-arrested or wound up back in jail or prison, Wozniak said. One has retired, and the other 19 are employed full-time.