Jane Addams Resource Corporation
The Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC) Baltimore trains unemployed and/or underemployed Baltimore City residents in welding and computer numerical control (CNC) at the Regional Skills Training Center on Park Heights Avenue in West Baltimore. With funding from the Abell Foundation, students receive hands-on training and earn industry-recognized credentials in a work-like environment. Beyond technical skills training, JARC Baltimore provides employment readiness and financial support services to trainees during and after training. Graduates are placed into jobs earning an average starting wage of $16 per hour.
BioTechnical Institute of Maryland, Inc.
Since 1998, with support from the Abell Foundation, BTI has trained over 450 Baltimore City residents as entry-level technicians in the growing bio-pharma industry. Students first complete BioSTART, BTI’s six-week bridge program, which was started so that BTI could admit students with lower math scores. Students move on to the Laboratory Associates program, where students continue training for 10 weeks and complete a 100-hour internship. Of the 40 students to be trained in 2021, BTI estimates that 29 (or 73%) will graduate and of those who graduate, 22 (or 76%) will be placed into research laboratory and manufacturing technician positions, at an average wage of $17/hour.
Byte Back
Byte Back is a Washington, DC nonprofit organization that trains low-income adults with no computer experience in learning the basic fundamental skills of how to turn on a computer, use a mouse and use Microsoft Office applications. Byte Back then works step by step with students to build upon those skills, preparing students to earn industry-recognized IT credentials. Last year, with support from the Abell Foundation, Byte Back expanded its programming to Baltimore. In 2021, with continued support from Abell, Byte Back plans to enroll 100 Baltimoreans into its classes, with 76 completing. Byte Back will help 36 graduates who earn IT certifications to obtain careers in IT, tracking their job retention for a year.
Job Opportunities Task Force
In January 2006, in partnership with the Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc. (ABC), Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) launched Project JumpStart, a pre-apprenticeship construction program designed to provide low-income Baltimore City residents with 13 weeks of pre-apprenticeship training. Since its inception, Project Jumpstart has served over 1,300 Baltimore residents, almost all of whom are African-American men (96%) with a criminal record (75%). With funding from the Abell Foundation, Project Jumpstart plans to serve 145 new students and maintain its 75% job placement rate.
NPower, Inc.
In 2016, with support from the Abell Foundation and others, NPower replicated its IT training program for low-income young adults in Baltimore. NPower’s core training program provides students with 16 weeks of hands-on classroom instruction in hardware and software. The academic portion focuses on teaching fundamental IT skills, including networking, cloud computing, coding and service management. Following the classroom instruction, students earn their CompTIA certification and have the option to take additional certificate exams. NPower participants then enter a seven-week paid internship, working four days per week, while one day is spent in professional development activities in the classroom. In the coming year, NPower plans to enroll 150 low-income young adults into training, graduating 135 and placing 122 into employment.