Joe Aiello was homeless. He overdosed twice and was brought back by Narcan. His relationships with his wife and young daughter were destroyed.
Nearly a decade later, he co-owns Restorative Roots, the only licensed male recovery houses in Luzerne County.
“When I got clean, they didn't have licensed recovery houses,” Aiello said. “So I had to go to an unlicensed recovery house. There were 12 people per house. My bedroom was essentially a closet with a dirty twin mattress. There was no dignity in it. You don't need a great environment to get clean. But it certainly would help.”
His poor experience in the unlicensed facility turned him back to the streets. He almost died from those two overdoses.
“It came about from my personal experience in a dump of a sober house, and I said, if I could do this any better, I would love to help people,” he said. “So there's someone there to provide the services and resources that weren't there for me.”
Life experiences lead to lifeline for others
Aiello’s co-owner Kurt Krasavage came from a background in business and real estate. Though he has the business expertise, he credits Aiello’s life experiences with much of their success.
“Joe is the reason we are so successful,” Krasavage said. “His life experience and his mentorship to these young men is a humongous part of why we are so successful. He paid for this moment with his life.”
Restorative Roots just opened its third facility to residents in Edwardsville in April. That facility is the other half of a duplex. The duplex’s other unit opened to residents earlier this year. They have another house in Plymouth.
They acquired their first property almost two years ago and opened the first facility to residents in September of 2024. The business is licensed for 10 beds.
A recovery house differs from a halfway house. There is no 24-hour supervision like in a halfway house.
Residents have a curfew, get regularly drug tested, are required to get a job and meet biweekly with their assigned certified recovery specialist.
The Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol, which oversees Restorative Roots’ licensure, requires the house to have Narcan accessible to residents.
Each house has room for up to four men. The newest Edwardsville facility has two bedrooms with two beds each, two common spaces and one and a half bathrooms. The bedrooms and main living room have televisions.
“If you have nice things and you feel nice, you'll act right. If you come into a house with dirty carpets and paint peeling off the wall, you're gonna treat the place like it's a dump, and you're gonna act the part,” Aiello said.
Funding uncertainties
A bed at a Restorative Roots recovery house costs $7,200 for a six-month stay. Insurance does not cover that cost.
Residents either pay out of pocket or get funding from the county. Aiello and Krasavage applied for opioid settlement funds recently to cover the stays of eight residents.
The county’s funding for recovery services comes from the federal government. Luzerne County is at risk of losing about $150,000 towards recovery and prevention services due to the Trump administration’s recent health cuts.
According to research from the academic journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence, the opioid epidemic was estimated to have cost the country $1.02 trillion.
This amount includes the healthcare costs, crime-related costs and lost productivity due to addiction.
The co-owners believe that investing in recovery will eventually boost the economy.
“We are the cheapest part of the system,” Aiello said. “You stay between six months and a year. We save the taxpayers.”
Luzerne County notified them of the risk to their funding. A federal judge put a temporary pause on the administration’s cancellation of more than $11 billion in grants to the states in early April, but there is still uncertainty.
“After June, we're not exactly sure where the funding is going to come from,” Aiello said.
They hope that funding for recovery programs being on the chopping block is an oversight.
“I believe that's a temporary thing [because] ultimately it has to be,” Krasavage said. “If you don't fund these people, and you take away these services, it's going to cost so much more money.”
Looking to the future
Restorative Roots has had 11 residents since opening in September. Three of those residents graduated to independent living. Only one resident decided to leave and not complete the program.
Working in recovery services, Aiello and Krasavage see these as great odds. They hope to continue their work and open more recovery houses for other demographics, like single mothers.
“Our goal is probably to have 50 beds by the end of the year,” Aiello said. “A wrench got thrown in it because of the Trump administration. However, we're still hoping for 30 or 40.”
Aiello looks forward to cheering on new residents. As he walks around the house, he points out decorations with motivational quotes on them like, “You came here to win,” and “Live the life you’ll imagine.”
He uses himself as an example to his residents of what life can look like after addiction.
“I told these guys… You guys have a nice place to live that you don't have to worry about paying the bills,” he said. “Why are we going to throw this nice thing away? At the same time, you have a guy being your cheerleader. I try to teach all of them to take all these things that you think are negative about your addiction and reframe it.”
