STRIVE
STRIVE’s mission is to transform the lives of at-risk populations by providing support and training that lead to livable wage employment and societal re-integration.
For nearly 25 years East Harlem based STRIVE has been transforming the lives of the hardest to employ – the chronically unemployed, the formally incarcerated, at-risk young adults, recovering addicts, the homeless and near homeless, public assistance recipients – and the working poor. Over 40,000 people from New York, 18 domestic affiliates and 5 international affiliates have benefited from their belief that every individual has the power to change, to re-create themselves, or to begin anew. The key to their success has been CORE – their attitudinal (soft skills) and job readiness training model that facilitates personal transformation, taps into the power of self-affirmation, changes lives – and connects their clients to the world of work.
STRIVE builds on techniques that were first developed in the therapeutic community to help participants understand that a good attitude and a strong work ethic is essential to getting and keeping a job and that managing “one’s disposition” is an essential first step to positive self-affirmation. Recognizing the phenomenon of “disconnection,” particularly of youth, and its impact on motivation to seek out legitimate employment, STRIVE re-engages through education, role-modeling based on the civil rights movement, and setting high standards for achievement. This model has a profound impact on STRIVE students and forms the basis for the development of follow-on skills and career advancement.
At-risk populations must compete on the open job market with people who have fewer barriers, more education and more experience. STRIVE’s model recognizes that for those who have barriers to employment, whether a felony conviction, chronic unemployment, or some other factor, it is essential to have a critical mass of skills, experience and education. A livable wage job is highly unlikely without a serious investment in these three “moons.” STRIVE engages with partner organizations to provide skills training that produces graduates that are attractive to existing or emerging employment opportunities. In New York City, the “hot” skills for the foreseeable future are in computer networking and repair, Office Operations – and Green Construction. STRIVE has pioneered a comprehensive green construction skills program that incorporates basic construction, Brownfield remediation and certification, weatherization, and photo voltaic training. STRIVE’s Green Construction graduates are demonstrating the ability to exit training and obtain jobs with starting wages as high as $15 per hour.
In a recent study bymission2 Public-Private Ventures (PPV), STRIVE’s A+ computer certification program ranked in the highest category for placement and wage outcomes. The STRIVE result was even more impressive in that it was achieved with the most difficult population to get employed at a livable wage: formally incarcerated individuals re-entering society after long period of incarceration (76% placement rate at over $14 per hour average salary). Recidivism rates for STRIVE graduates are equally impressive: In a 2004 study of 800 formerly incarcerated students taking part in a US Department of Labor sponsored nationwide STRIVE program, the recidivism rate for STRIVE graduates was 12%, or 72% lower than the expected average recidivism rate of 44%.