Teens in Brooklyn turn away from guns, drugs and gang life thanks to the volunteer-based nonprofit founded by Barnabas Shakur. Since 2001, Project Re-Generation has attracted 5,000 volunteers who assist with legal services, career guidance, interview skills, and after school tutoring. Shakur says the goodness of the community is what has made Project Re-Generation work. While giving teenagers guidance is a priority, adults are encouraged to participate.
Programs for Teens:
Citywide, New York City faces a staggering 50% dropout rate. However, those involved in Project Re-Generation have 96% graduation rate, and many go on to pursue a university education.
Weary of performing funerals, Father Greg Boyle wondered, "What if?" What if the community invested in itself, its people, instead of problem solving by incarceration? Boyle's concern evolved into Homeboy Industries which is now operating a $14 million budget. The organization began with a strong focus on jobs and job training as an alternative to gang violence. However, over the last twenty plus years, the organization has grown and now includes a charter high school, training facilities, tattoo removal and mental health services. Former gang members work for Homeboy Industries' Bakery, Homegirl Cafe and Homeboy Diner.
Gang-related homicides in Los Angeles county are way down over the last two decades and Homeboy has won both praise and funding from government officials -- last June, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa helped launch the opening of a Homeboy Diner at City Hall. And the organization has inspired similar initiatives in San Francisco, Boston and Missouri.
After going through Homeboy Industries job training, participants can specialize in "baking bread, learning to silkscreen, developing retail skills, or running a restaurant and catering business."
The Women's Bean Project knows that empowering a woman is more than opening up a future for one. The lives of her children, friends, and other family members are lifted. The project dedicates itself to helping women break the cycle of poverty and unemployment. The organization's mission is an ascent to self-sufficiency through social enterprise for every woman that participates in the program.
Job and life skill training is used to end problems like chronic unemployment and poverty. The women, who are often former prisoners or drug users, tap their undiscovered talents and develop skills for the workplace.
With this stepping stone toward success, the women will be able to support themselves and their families and create stronger role models for future generations. --Women's Bean Project
The 501 (c)(3) nonprofit makes and sells salsa mixes, spice rubs, coffee beans, and jelly beans in addition to soups and chili, along with gift baskets, baking mixes, and much more. The Women's Bean Project is rated highest at 4 stars by Charity Navigator.
Serving hard time means facing a hard reality once a sentence is served. Former convicts often finish their sentences unprepared for jobs, much less professions, and are generally considered undesirable as employees. An experiment (and actually a number of research projects) being conducted in Washington state brings science and nature to prisons and prisoners. One goal is education for inmates and sustainable job training.
"We conduct ecological research and conserve biodiversity by forging collaborations with scientists, inmates, prison staff, students, and community partners. Equally important, we help reduce the environmental, economic, and human costs of prisons by inspiring and informing sustainable practices." Sustainable Prisons Project
Washington State Department of Corrections partners with Evergreen State College by way of the Sustainable Prisons Project. Current inmates and ex-offenders who show an interest are taught sustainability, green-collar jobs, and given educational opportunities that advance scientific research. Some prisoners do organic gardening. Others are trained as beekeepers. One program has prisoners raising the endangered Oregon spotted frogs for release back into the wild. Endangered plant life is being cultivated for transplanting in nature.
Program coordinators note the value of connecting the incarcerated to the world beyond bars and razor wire. Prisoners say they feel like they're being prepared to do something meaningful once their time is served.
More than 9 percent of the U.S. population is unemployed, and finding work is challenging for adults with autism even in better economies. Brenda Weitzberg knew her university educated son could work, but his autism amounted to a serious obstacle in the job market. His unique talent for attention to detail proved perfect in identifying software anomalies. And so, she founded Aspiritech, which tests for software problems, not only to address her son's needs but the needs of other people in his situation.
Aspiritech's "mission to provide a path for high functioning individuals on the Autism Spectrum helps these young adults realize their potential through gainful employment."
The nonprofit's vision is to expand to other geographic and business areas in addition to inspiring others to replicate our model. To those ends, we continue to seek sources of funding and additional billable work.
Across America, single mother households often live in poverty. CLIMB Wyoming challenges the status quo with job training for low income women, and the work is paying off. Program participants earn higher wages in fields ranging from welding to health care. Readying single mothers for new careers is a 6 to 8 month endeavor:
Phase 1-Program Research and Planning
Phase 2-Participant Recruitment
Phase 3-Comprehensive Training
Phase 4-Job Placement
Phase 5-On-going Support
Essential to the process are mental health services that tackle personal barriers that have impeded success in the past.
USA Today recently reported 75,000 American veterans are homeless. Fifteen percent of the homeless veterans served in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2 million people were homeless in 2009 at some point, and those who are chronically homeless number around 112,000 people.
Help USA addresses the challenges facing the homeless. Veterans, families in crisis, youth, those who are HIV positive, and victims of domestic violence are just some who fall under the purview of Help USA's mission. As people build or rebuild their lives, Help USA tries to give them a vision of their own potential.
