The Work First Foundation
With funding from the Abell Foundation, in 2009, America Works (through its nonprofit Work First Foundation) launched the Baltimore Ex-Offender Reentry Employment Program. The program provides a two-week-long job-readiness workshop for cohorts of six to seven ex-offenders. The program targets ex-offenders under 40 years of age, and those who have been recently released from prison or jail. To date,1,318 ex-offenders have graduated from the two-week training course, with 804 being placed into jobs (a 61% job placement rate). Participants earned an average of $9.39 at placement, with 65 percent remaining employed for six months or more. Since June 2017, the Baltimore City court system has been referring low-income individuals to the program as they await trial, rather than jailing them because they cannot afford to pay bail. To date, 305 pretrial defendants have enrolled into the program. Of those, 227 have gone to trial, with 78 percent experiencing a positive outcome.
Vehicles for Change, Inc.
Since 1999, the Abell Foundation has supported Vehicles for Change (VFC) in making low-cost cars available to low-income job seekers in Baltimore City. In 2015, with funding from Abell, VFC launched an automotive technician repair program. VFC hires men and women who have been recently released from prison or who have been granted work release (usually in small cohorts of seven to eight people). All program applicants have successfully completed the 600-hour Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Auto Maintenance and Light Repair training program while incarcerated. At VFC, they receive three to five months of paid work experience, earning $9 an hour. The on-the-job experience is designed to build the trainees’ resumes and overcome any reservations that employers have about hiring returning citizens. All trainees must pass at least four ASE certification tests. The program is working: of the 150 trainees who enrolled since the beginning of the program, 13 are still in training, 131 wer placed into full-time employment and only six have not completed because they were on work release and had to return to prison. All of the 131 graduates have been placed into employment, with an average starting hourly wage of $16 per hour. Funding from Abell will support the training and job placement of 56 to 60 Baltimore residents.
Rose Street Community Center
The Rose Street Community Center, with support from the Abell Foundation, serves over 120 people per week, providing transitional housing for over 20 people a week. Funding of up to $50,000 will provide rental assistance to Baltimore City crime victims over a period of two years.
PIVOT, Inc.
PIVOT was founded in October 2017 in response to the dramatic gap in services geared towards women in reentry in Baltimore City and the lack of coordinated services specifically targeting workforce development for women. The PIVOT model was designed to establish cooperative relationships between service providers in workforce development, public health, substance abuse treatment and mental health, human services and other supportive services such as legal aid, transportation, clothing, housing, childcare, family reunification, financial education and more. Funding from the Abell Foundation will support 45 women being served by Pivot during the grant period.
Center for Urban Families, Inc.
The Center for Urban Families (CFUF) works to strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic succes. STRIVE Baltimore, the cornerstone of CFUF’s programming, is a strict, demanding, three-week workshop that focuses on workplace behavior, appearance, and attitude. Upon completion of training, STRIVE graduates are placed in jobs, and are followed by STRIVE staff for two years. Last year,146 participants graduated from STRIVE Baltimore, with 132 graduates (or 90%) being placed into jobs; 70 former graduates were also placed into jobs, bringing the total number of job placements to 202. STRIVE graduates placed in employment earned an average of $13.01 per hour, and 90% remained employed for at least six months.