Employer Partnerships, a program of Project HOPE

Track Sponsor: State Street Foundation

Founded: 2003

Current Revenue: $415,000

Website: http://www.prohope.org/openhouse.htm

 

The Need

In the Dudley neighborhood of Boston, many residents struggle to overcome the disadvantages of poverty:

  • Sixty percent of Dudley area families − including 83% of single-parent families − have incomes below the economic self-sufficiency standard needed to pay for basic necessities.
  • Nearly 40% of all families in shelters in Massachusetts are from Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.

Employers need to recruit, train, and retain qualified applicants for entry-level jobs and want to build relationships by hiring from within the community. However, this can be a challenge:

  • Without training and support, local residents may not be prepared to fill job openings.
  • Employers need to narrow down a large pool of candidates to determine who should be hired.

About

Workforce Development & Employer Partnerships prepares low-income people for entry-level jobs through close collaboration with employers. The program assists Boston residents—largely from the Dudley neighborhood of Dorchester and Roxbury, but also Mattapan and Mission Hill—in finding living-wage jobs by providing both the training and support to gain and retain employment and connections to actual employers. The skills participants gain lead them to viable career paths, and the program’s close collaboration with employers ensures participants are prepared for the actual jobs available in the workplace. Furthermore, employers benefit from the program’s expertise in evaluating, preparing, and supporting local candidates for their open positions. Workforce Development & Employer Partnerships has become an essential tool in Project Hope’s mission of preventing family homelessness and ending the intergenerational cycle of poverty.

Key Accomplishments

Workforce Development & Employer Partnerships has served more than 350 program participants to date, providing skills training, education, and job opportunities.

  • Ninety percent of graduates from the highest-level job readiness program found work within the health care field, and 75% had at least a one-year retention rate.
  • Sixty-four percent of all graduates from the mid-level job readiness program were placed in jobs, and 36% of graduates continued in the highest-level program at Project Hope.
  • The program has established and maintained multi-year relationships with three partners in the health care field and looks to expand with partners in other industries.
  • The program has received funding from government, major private sources, and through its innovative partnerships with employers.

Join the Cause

In-Kind Support

  • Offer short-term workplace internships
  • Provide employment for program graduates
  • Become an employer partner

Financial Support

  • $25,000 – One-half FTE for case management or instruction
  • $5,000 – One complete portable wireless classroom station
  • $1,000 – Online interview simulations for 25 participants

Learn More

Want to learn more about Workforce Development and Employer Partnerships, a program of Project Hope? View their full Social Innovation Forum prospectus here.

Contact Information

Tressa Stazinski
Director of Workforce Development
(617) 442-1880
tstazinski@prohope.org

Workforce Development and Employer Partnerships, a program of Project Hope at the Seventh Annual Social Innovation Forum Showcase Event.



Read more about the other past Social Innovators