Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Pee BSW, LADC, LSW, CPRS.
Hi Jay, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My name is Jay Pee, and my story is one of pain, purpose, recovery, and hope. I come from the streets, which was where God shaped my heart for the people I serve today. Eight years ago, I experienced addiction and homelessness. I know what it feels like to be counted out, overlooked, judged, and still be trying to survive.
My life changed when I found recovery and started believing that my story did not have to end where my struggle started. I began rebuilding my life one step at a time, and over time, my pain became my purpose. That purpose led me to college where I started Minnesota Hope Dealerz Organization.
Today, I am a person in long-term recovery, a licenced social worker (LSW), a licenced drug and alcohol counselor (LADC), advocate, a leader in my community, and the founder and Executive Director of MHD. But more than any title, I am someone who made it out and went back to help others make it out too.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Some of the biggest struggles were learning how to heal while still trying to survive. Recovery is not just about stopping the use of substances. It is about learning how to live again, how to trust again, how to forgive yourself, and how to build a future when your past keeps trying to pull you back.
Building Minnesota Hope Dealerz Organization has also come with challenges. Starting an organization from scratch and lived experience takes faith, sacrifice, and resilience. There have been financial challenges, staffing challenges, system barriers, and moments where I had to lead while still growing myself. But every struggle reminded me why this work matters.
The road has not been easy, but it has been worth it. Today, the same pain that almost broke me is the pain I use to connect with others and help them find HOPE. My story is proof that people can recover, rebuild, and become leaders in the same communities they once struggled in.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Minnesota Hope Dealerz Organization, also known as MHD, is a Recovery Community Organization built on lived experience, faith, hope, and community. We provide peer recovery support, transitional housing, outreach, housing navigation, treatment referrals, Comprehensive Assessments, Narcan trainings, harm reduction education, recovery groups, and community-based support for people impacted by addiction, homelessness, trauma, incarceration, and poverty.
What people should know about MHD is that we meet people where they are, not where we think they should be. Some of our work happens in offices, but a lot of our work happens in the community, in the streets, encampments, treatment centers, sober homes, churches, jails, and neighborhoods where people are hurting and looking for a way out.
We specialize in reaching people who often feel overlooked by traditional systems. Many of the people we serve are dealing with substance use, homelessness, mental health challenges, justice involvement, or barriers to housing and employment. Our goal is to help them move from survival to stability, and from hopelessness to purpose.
MHD is known for being real, culturally responsive, and rooted in lived experience. We are not just professionals doing a job. ALL of us have walked through recovery ourselves. I personally come from the streets and experienced addiction and homelessness eight years ago, so this work is personal to me. That experience allows us to build trust with people who may not trust systems, agencies, or service providers.
What sets us apart is our heart and our approach. We do not judge people by their worst moments. We walk beside them, encourage them, hold them accountable, and help connect them to the resources they need to rebuild their lives. We believe recovery is more than sobriety. It includes housing, healing, family, purpose, employment, community, and spiritual growth.
Brand-wise, I am most proud that the name “Hope Dealerz” has become more than a name. It represents transformation. It means we are taking the same communities where pain, addiction, and hopelessness have been passed around and bringing HOPE instead. We are showing people that recovery is possible, that second chances are real, and that your past does not have to define your future.
I want readers to know that Minnesota Hope Dealerz is more than an organization. It is a movement of hope. We are here for the person sleeping outside, the person struggling with addiction, the person coming home from jail, the family praying for change, and the community looking for healing. Our services are built to restore dignity, build trust, and help people believe in themselves again.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Growing up in the West side of Chicago, I was always someone who had a strong personality and a big heart, but I was also shaped by my environment. I came up around real street life, and at a young age I got exposed to drugs, selling drugs, gang activity, violence, and survival. Back then, I did not fully understand how much pain and trauma was around me. I just knew I was trying to find my place, protect myself, and figure out how to make it.
Personality-wise, I was outgoing, loyal, observant, and street smart. I was the type of person who could connect with different kinds of people, but I also carried a lot inside. I had leadership in me even then, but I did not always use it in the right direction. I wanted respect, belonging, and a sense of purpose, but I was looking for those things in places that almost destroyed me.
My interests were always connected to people, music, community, and survival. I had dreams like anybody else, but the streets became louder than those dreams for a while. Looking back, I can see that many of the qualities I had growing up, influence, courage, loyalty, and the ability to bring people together, are the same qualities I use today, just transformed through recovery, faith, and purpose.
I do not glorify where I came from, but I also do not hide it. My past helps me understand people who are still stuck in that lifestyle. It reminds me that nobody is too far gone, and that with the right support, love, accountability, and hope, people can change their whole life.
Pricing:
- MHD Hoodies (Donation of $65)
- MHD Tee Shirts ((Donation of $35)
- MHD Skull caps (Donation of $35)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://minnesotahopedealerz.org
- Instagram: Minnesota Hope Dealerz
- Facebook: Minnesota Hope Dealerz
- Youtube: Minnesota Hope Dealerz
