Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series on LightWorks, an innovative, self-sustaining company that offers hope to at-risk individuals who are coming out of substance abuse rehabilitation, prison, overcoming disabilities or just want to break free of poverty and homelessness and lead normal lives.

POST FALLS - Wearing safety glasses and toting construction tools, Melissa Pierce focuses, measures and begins to drill into wood that will become part of the exterior of a tiny house.

"I've never been a girly girl, so I just kind of fit in," she said. "Same with this program; I'm the only girl."

Pierce, 37, of Coeur d'Alene, has a welding certificate she earned through HARC (Helping the At-Risk Community), a faith-based program with a foundation of character building.

She's not the same person she was just a few years ago. Her past self never would have dreamed that she would become a welder.

Her past self had forgotten how to dream.

"My life has done a complete turnaround in the last year," she said. "Two years ago I was in jail, a drug addict, basically homeless, and now I've got a future and I've got a place of my own and I'm walking straight with God. It's unbelievable."

Pierce is a crew member at LightWorks, a company that is in the business of building tiny houses as well as continuing the morals and ethics practiced through HARC. She is putting her HARC training to good use, using the vocational skills as well as the soft skills, such as critical thinking, working well with others, keeping a good attitude and showing initiative. She is also a Celebrate Recovery leader.

"I love it," she said. "I've been on Social Security pretty much for my whole adult life and I never had the ambition to do anything with myself."

For several years, Pierce has been in and out of the lives of her three children, who are in their upper teens and early 20s. At one point she didn't see them for four years. Before that, it was eight. She is happy to report that she is mending those relationships, and she got to spend time with all of them this spring.

"They don't believe it," she said, explaining that her kids are pretty taken aback by her transition and her ability to envision her future.

"I have self-respect and self-dignity and I can get along with people today," she said. "Before, I was angry and mean and just out for blood, just out for me. I love people today, and I want to help people. I see me having a good future. It's OK to have the bumps in the road because if it wasn't for the bumps in the road I wouldn't have gotten as strong as I am. I can see me having a life, a life that they call 'normal.' A house, a car, my yard, doing the things that I like to do."

LightWorks foreman Adam Lyden, 31, of Dalton Gardens, was also walking a dangerous path before he began working at LightWorks.

Lyden got into methamphetamine and started dealing when he lived in Texas, becoming addicted to the drug and the $3,000-$5,000 he could make in one day of selling it.

"It's pretty intense," he said. "I was just enveloped in the drug life, violence, constantly. You can't let people know your weakness, you have to be constantly tough all the time. You lose your conscience just to survive."

He wound up in prison in Texas and moved to North Idaho where some of his family lives. Before long, he was back into the scene, but not before almost ruining his relationship with his parents. He was soon back behind bars.

"I was tired of being in and out of jail," he said. "It's pretty bad when you go to jail in a different state and know like, five people."

Lyden voluntarily went through Pastor Tim Remington's Good Samaritan Rehabilitation Program and HARC. As someone who has been in and out of the system, he understands the need for a person to break their bad cycles and re-learn how to live. He is glad to have a real job at LightWorks and feels a sense of worth again.

"I think our society has gotten super lazy, and the government tries to make it easy, you know, halfway houses, transition houses, giving people a free ride," he said. "This is an opportunity to get out there and just do it for yourself, which will make you feel better about yourself.

"It's kind of like a pride thing ... if you're really committed to change, it's a perfect tool to use. And it doesn't cost you anything. (The Idaho Division of) Voc Rehab and the Department of Labor paid for the whole thing for me."

People turning a new leaf, earning their second chances and becoming good citizens are at the core of LightWorks. While the company strives to make quality products and needs money to survive, it's not all about the money - it's about the people. These people are close to founder Frank Genetti's heart. He understands things from their perspective and he knows that a little kindness goes a long way.

"I make no secret about this. I'm a recovering alcoholic, so I've got 40 years of sobriety, so I know what it takes to go through this," Genetti said. "Somebody gave me some hope and opportunity when I was floundering and that made a difference to me and allowed me to be successful in business, have a good marriage. I've been married for 40 years, too. I mean, all kinds of good things happened."

Genetti said his son has also made some poor choices in his life.

"I visited him in prison and I saw how broken the penal system is," he said. "What we do is offer a little bit of hope, and opportunity, and I tell you, I think this is my purpose in life because everything happens for a reason."

Genetti, LightWorks and a tiny house are scheduled to be near Seventh Street at the Downtown Street Fair during Art on the Green starting Friday. People can say hello and see who and what it's all about.

"It's like every single day there's a new blessing," Pierce said. "Now I've got a full-time job and I canceled Social Security and I'm looking for a house. I'll get my license back soon."

"I think the question is, who doesn't benefit?" Lyden said. "Because really, you're getting somebody that's in the program instead of out there peddling drugs or shoplifting for food. You're pulling people out of what they used to do, which the majority of the time isn't good.

"For most of us, we have to live here in reality and we have to realize hard work gets us what we want. And it's worth so much more when you work for it rather than going and just taking what you want."

Info: www.lightworksproject.com or frank@lightworksproject.com

If you go

• Check out a tiny house at this weekend's Street Fair in downtown Coeur d'Alene.