Nassau County has partnered with former NBA star Jayson Williams to help those suffering from addiction get their commercial driver’s license — and secure well-paying truck driving jobs that will hopefully keep them on the right path.
The new program “checks a lot of boxes to make sure that people are healthy,” Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said at a Wednesday morning press conference in Mineola, announcing the collaboration with Williams’ organization, Rebound.
County officials say the joint program — which will be funded in part by $200,000 from opioid lawsuit settlements — will lend a hand to downtrodden, formerly addicted people and help them steer their lives in the right direction.
“The program is you come in, you get drug tested and you meet with over 40 different carriers because there’s 800,000 jobs needed right now in the tractor trailer industry,” Williams said.
“So you get a job right when you get in. All you have to do is finish the program successfully, and you’re off. And at this point, you are making a starting salary at $65,000 a year.”
This will give them a solid paycheck, benefits and keep them busy — which will hopefully prevent recidivism, Blakeman added.
