( CNN ) -- Twenty-three years ago , Scott Silverman found himself at an open , 44th-story window , on the brink of suicide . Two decades of escalating substance abuse , blackouts and depression had brought him to this moment . Scott Silverman started Second Chance to help people in shelters , the homeless and inmates leaving prison . `` I did n't think of myself as depressed , but then my drinking got so bad at the end , I felt my life was over , '' Silverman recalled . Just then , a colleague entered the room and asked him what he was doing . Silverman entered rehab the next day and has been sober ever since . Fast forward to 2008 . Silverman has turned not only his own life around but also the lives of thousands of others . Rehab and volunteering brought him close to a community of others in need : people in shelters , those who were homeless , others who had come out of jail . They all shared one problem , Silverman saw : They were unable to find and keep a job . `` I thought , I 've been in treatment , I 've lost jobs , but I got lucky and had a very supportive family . I had to find a way to help them more effectively , '' he said . The vehicle for that assistance is his Second Chance program in San Diego , California . It provides job readiness training , housing for sober living , and mental health and employment support services for what Silverman calls a `` difficult-to-serve '' population . Started in 1993 , Second Chance has provided services to more than 24,000 individuals . It helps graduates with job placement and follows up with them for two years . Of 219 Second Chance graduates in 2004 , 169 found employment , the organization says . Three-quarters of them remained employed two years later . One key to its success , Silverman said , is that the Second Chance program begins with transitional , sober-living housing for its clients . `` You 've got to have an address to get a job , and you have to have a job to keep an address , '' he said . `` I started with a little tiny house that we rented downtown , and in 2008 we have eight single-family homes and our main office where all the programs are run . '' Watch Silverman describe the moment that changed his life » . As part of its work , Second Chance targets those leaving prison . California has one of the highest repeat-offender rates in the country . Nearly two of three released inmates return to state prisons within three years . Silverman 's staff regularly enters the California correctional system to introduce their services to prisoners anticipating parole . Those who are accepted into his program are transported to sober-living housing the day they 're released and given 60 days of immediate free housing , clothing , incidentals and enrollment in job readiness training . Anthony Panarella is an ex-convict who recently graduated from Silverman 's prisoner re-entry employment course . There , he learned how to write a resume and cover letter as well as how to stand out in a job interview . `` This is a big accomplishment for me . '' he said . `` I 've never finished anything all the way through ever in my life . I 'm going to make it . '' Watch Panarella describe his transition from prison life » . To Silverman , that attitude is what convinces employers to take on those who otherwise face significant barriers to finding work . `` We send in individuals job-ready , smiling , professionally dressed and ready to go to work , '' Silverman said . `` We work with employers . We make repeat referrals and they make repeat hires . So we 're their partner , and that makes a big difference . '' The city agrees . Last month , San Diego declared one day as `` Scott Silverman Day . '' Panarella says it 's a much deserved honor . `` Little kids have Superman or Spiderman . I have Scott Silverman . '' Watch Silverman explain the success of `` Second Chance '' » E-mail to a friend .
Silverman was on the verge of jumping from a 44th -floor window Twenty-three years ago . Saved by a colleague and rehab , Second Chance has dedicated his life to helping others . His Silverman program has helped thousands find work and a new life . His targets : People in shelters , the homeless , inmates leaving prison .