Laundry in the bathroom corner, baseball cap collection in the living room and a poster of a young woman wearing close to nothing.
Zach Hassinger's apartment is pretty standard for a 23-year-old guy.
But he's here for reasons that are uncommon to most people, if not necessarily to him.
"I remember vividly, as a child, going to pick up massive amounts of marijuana with my father," he says. "When you're in that environment, and you're around drugs and both your parents seem to be functioning fine, one can only assume that you're never going to mess around with it, or eventually, you will. I mean, doesn't everybody aspire to be like their parents?"
Eventually, Hassinger did follow in his parents' footsteps, dealing drugs and using a lot of cocaine, in particular.
"I would be up for three days at a time. Totally out of control."
Eventually, Hassinger was arrested on felony drug charges.
He avoided doing serious time by getting into Union County's drug treatment court. Part of the deal with drug court is that people have to agree to probation meetings, community service, group therapy, individual counseling, and work and housing plans approved by a probation officer.
Steve Diehl is Hassinger's probation officer.
"He lived with...family members who weren't in the best situation. And it was in the middle of nowhere and they weren't interested in getting him to meetings, and to counseling, or to a job, or things like that," Diehl says.
So, Hassinger had a housing problem, as many former inmates do.
But since 2012, there's been a solution for him and 30 other Union County residents convicted of nonviolent offenses. The Justice Bridge Housing Program helps with rent, covering the difference between full rent and 30 percent of their income.
Supporters say it's working, but not everyone's on board.
Read the full version of this reportat Keystone Crossroads' website. Keystone Crossroads is a new statewide public media initiative reporting on the challenges facing Pennsylvania's cities. WPSU is a participating station.
