CINCINNATI — Bill Brown is sitting on a picnic table outside the Recovery Center of Hamilton County. In its parking lot, a small court is roped off by several dollies and orange construction cones.

Brown's job is to help people living with mental illness. But he's telling me about someone he couldn't reach.

It's why he's here: Pickleball practice. This weekly game is his attempt to connect with people in a different way .

“What we’re doing is offering anything we can think of that will stick with somebody,” Brown said. "And so far, something has."

Because at one time, Betsy Fischer couldn’t look people in the eye. She rarely left her home.

A recovery center uses pickleball to treat mental illness. They say it’s working

“It was very, very hard for me just to talk to people. I felt v

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