They come to work early in the morning, long before many SF State dorm residents have awoken. They serve food, cook, and do anything else that needs to be done.

They are the SF State dining center workers, made up by a mix of SF State students and regular employees.

But what you may not know is that some of the workers from the dining center, also known as City Eats, are people who are currently in or have just exited a drug rehabilitation program or gotten out of prison.

David Brantley is one of these workers. Brantley, 37, graduated from the Delancey Street rehabilitation program in 2001. "I was in there for three years," said Brantly, "it was either that or nine years in prison."

Brantly had been arrested and charged with identity theft and was given one last chance by the San Francisco Superior Court.

"I had been in juvenile detention since I was a teenager and homeless at 13. I was always given deversion programs or something to avoid recieving long jail sentences," said Brantly. "It was just a matter of time when the same judges got sick of seeing me in trouble."

Brantly, who at the time was addicted to heroin, was sent to Delancey Street and for a year plotted his escape from the program. "For the first year I thought everyday about leaving and getting out of there," said Brantly.

He began to turn his attitude around after the first year. "I got the task of rebuilding a boat with this old con, it took us six months but when I got to see it float it was beautiful," he said.

In addition, Brantly was given intensive agression therapy and "living theater" therapy, where you act out your entire life with everyone in the program watching you. "It really breaks you down and shows what you did in your life," he said.

After a managerial position at a catering job ended, Brantly found City Eats, which him a job.

"Its really great that they gave someone like me an opportunity to continue my growth," said Brantly.

For years, Chartwells, the owner of City Eats, and its parent company Compass Group, have been involved in a program called “Compass in the Community”.

“It’s a program that reaches out into the community and gets people from programs in which they have had some problems in the past,” said Matt Almeida, director of dining services at City Eats. “It’s a way to help out and it’s a personal philosophy for me to help people that have had some trouble and are trying to get back on their feet.”

The troubles that Almeida speaks about are people who have had drug addiction problems and bouts with the criminal justice system.

Although the individuals are mainly recovering drug addicts, some students are weary of what crimes they may have committed in the past.

“I don’t mind them working here, but I’m bothered if they have done any violent crimes,” said 18-year-old Cynthia Anderson, a freshman majoring in music.

Almeida is adamant that no major problems have occurred regarding any workers from the rehabilitation programs.

“This is a controlled environment and after a few weeks we know who will stick and who won’t,” he said.

While many of these individuals come from difficult backgrounds, it is reassuring to know that they have entered SF State, a place of tolerance and acceptance and a place where someone from any background can flourish.

“What society does not realize is that lots of these individuals want to make a positive impact, but have no where to do it, so often times they may end up relapsing,” said Debra Vargas, executive director of Palo Alto based Free At Last, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.

“We help ex-offenders adjust back into society and provide pre-employment and education programs,” said Vargas, who also emphasizes that many of these individuals do not have more than a ninth grade education. The program is not for everyone, said Vargas, for the recipient must be willing to be forthright and honest with the program.

“We don’t just pick up anybody, they must be willing to stand on their own two feet and be willing to be honest if they feel that they may relapse again,” said Vargas.

Free At Last, which opened its doors for business in 1994, has several methods in which they prepare a person for a working environment. First, it must be determined that if they are addicted to a drug that they are no longer fully dependent on it. Second, the program tries to adjust and train an individual for a job they may be suited for.

“We have had people train to become cooks, and they have become cooks, we have had people who train to be carpenters and end up working in that field,” said Vargas.

Free At Last then refers the individual to get vocational skills training, which is often done by other companies such as the Opportunities Industrialization Center West Inc. (OICW), based in Menlo Park.

Once the individual has learned the skills necessary for his or her craft then Free At Last searches far and wide for a potential employer. “In order to find a suitable employer we send out a survey asking how much they look at criminal backgrounds and how much emphasis they place on the person’s personal history,” Vargas said.

Those who fit the proper criteria are then asked to give the individual an opportunity to apply for a job position at the location. City Eats is one of those locations.

Free At Last calls once a year to check up on the progress of the individual, but other than that it is up to that person to stay focused and out of trouble.

“It's an honesty policy,” said Vargas. "They are adults, we are not parents looking after them and they know they have an open line if they need to come back.”

SF State students also find the honesty policy to be an appropriate method for the rehabilitated individuals.

“I think it’s a good thing, they are people who need the experience of being on their own,” said Larry Branquinho, 18, a freshman cinema major.

Vargas says normally 9 out of 10 are upfront with the employer. She claims that there's an 80 percent success rate, and only 20 percent relapse back to drugs or go back to prison.

While 80 percent may be a large success rate, Almeida said that the younger rehabilitated individuals have had trouble keeping their job at City Eats.

“Older people have had a better time adjusting because they are not surrounded by their peers of the same age. This is a challenging environment for many of them, because their customers are the same age as them,” said Almeida.

Another reason young individuals coming out of drug rehabilitation have had trouble is because of the temptation to do drugs put on by students frequenting the area.

“We have had workers especially at Café In the Park (located in Mary Park Hall) tell me that there is so much drug use amongst the students that it is impossible for them to stay clean," said Almeida.

No students interviewed for this story say they have seen anything like this take place.

“I have great conversations with them,” said Weston Green, 18, a freshman cinema major.

Many students interviewed also see this as a great opportunity for the recovering individuals.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Elizabeth Lindsey, 18, an undeclared freshman. “Everyone there is so nice and whatever helps them get on their feet is good.”

Brantly knows that these life opportunities made him the person he is today. He recently graduated from City College and hopes to soon go for a bachelor's degree in sociology.