Breakthrough 2019 – Caring For Foster Families

Breakthrough 2019 – Caring For Foster Families

Breakthrough 2019 – Caring For Foster Families

We can’t address the crisis in our civil society without addressing children who lack a family to come home to.

That was the driving theme behind Breakthrough 2019’s panel on foster care and adoption. A staggering 97 percent of kids who age out of the foster care system without a stable connection to a family end up landing in chronic poverty. How can we best help these children?

For practical ideas, we heard from Andy Cook of Promise 686, Bob Bruder-Mattson of FaithBridge Foster Care, Pam Parish of Connections Homes, and Chelsea Sabo of Foster Care Alliance.

As Andy shared, “The greatest nonprofit in the world is the family.”

Breakthrough 2019 – A Sustainable Vision For Helping The Poor

Breakthrough 2019 – A Sustainable Vision For Helping The Poor

Breakthrough 2019 – A Sustainable Vision For Helping The Poor

Is there a solution to poverty? That’s the question GCO president and CEO Randy Hicks discussed with AEI president Robert Doar as a keynote at Breakthrough 2019.

One powerful step forward in the anti-poverty fight is the Success Sequence: Helping as many people as possible attach to employment, stable family lives, and education. And solutions come locally.

“We don’t really succeed in helping people move up unless we have a really great and strong civil society and faith-based institutions helping people on a one-to-one basis,” Robert Doar shared. “Government can write a check. Government can fund a program. But it can’t help a person get a job or help a child learn to read. That happens at a local level in an individual experience.”

Second Chances Matter: Greg’s Story

Second Chances Matter: Greg’s Story

Second Chances Matter: Greg’s Story

If there’s one thing hard-baked into the American dream, it’s the second chance.

We all love second-chance stories—from the Gospel message itself found in the Bible to movies like Les Miserables, Invictus, or The Green Mile.

Perhaps it’s precisely because we all make mistakes and long to be treated with grace—and space to try again—that second chances matter.

And if second chances matter for you and me in the ordinary circumstances of our lives, how much more do second chances matter to those who have committed crimes and paid their debt to society—only to have doors slammed in their faces when they try to start over?

For a glimpse into the life of a Braselton, Georgia man who experienced first-hand how hard it was to get back on his feet after serving his prison sentence—and how important it was to have folks willing to give him a second chance—check out Greg Leppa’s story in the video above.

As Greg’s story proves, second chances are all about hope for a better future. And this is where Georgia Center for Opportunity’s groundbreaking program, Hiring Well, Doing Good (HWDG) comes in. HWDG offers folks coming out of prison—and other circumstances with significant barriers to employment—the resources and tools they need to find a job with a livable wage.

Through key partnerships with employers, community groups, churches, and other nonprofits, HWDG helps participants at this critical juncture of their lives identify the things that are holding them back, gain clarity on next steps and set goals, and acquire the necessary job skills to get a job and become successful.

As Greg shares, nobody can survive without a job. And as his story shows, getting that first job after prison was the most difficult thing because so many places weren’t open to hiring former inmates.

Second chances really do matter.

Click here to learn more about the HWDG program and find out how you can help give folks like Greg the second chance they need to not just survive, but thrive.

Introducing an Innovative New Way for Those in Poverty to Find Work

Introducing an Innovative New Way for Those in Poverty to Find Work

Introducing an Innovative New Way for Those in Poverty to Find Work

Government, particularly at the federal level, can only do so much to help those who are struggling in poverty to lead stable lives. We know instinctively that real change happens at the community level, when individuals, businesses, nonprofits, churches, and schools come together in the joint mission of lifting people out of poverty, giving them purpose, and strengthening the local economy.

That’s the theory behind Georgia Center for Opportunity’s Hiring Well, Doing Good (HWDG) initiative. HWDG brings together individuals seeking jobs with employers who need good workers and nonprofit community organizations who serve those in need.

Here’s the exciting news: Until this point, HWDG was all about one-on-one, face-to-face interaction. As a result, there was a natural limit to the number of people we could reach.

 

Announcing the HWDG online portal

The great news is that we’re taking the one-on-one interaction that makes HWDG so special and effective and scaling it online. In the coming weeks, we’ll be launching a new online portal website for HWDG as a pilot test in Columbus before scaling to other Georgia cities later in 2020, including South Gwinnett.

Individuals start with the HWDG online assessment tool to identify their barriers. The portal then shepherds them through the process and connects them with wrap-around services to remove their employment barriers and then directly with employers eager to hire.

Employers who participate benefit by getting a steady stream of committed, reliable workers ready to contribute.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the launch of HWDG’s online portal,” said Eric Cochling, Chief Program Officer and General Counsel for GCO who is also heading up HWDG. “This gives us a unique opportunity to reach underserved areas and treat individuals holistically. We know that a well-paying, upwardly mobile job is a key factor in well-being. But the benefits of work extend so far behind that—it provides a sense of purpose and contribution to one’s family and broader community.” 

What makes the HWDG portal unique

It would be a mistake to think of the HWDG portal as just another Monster.com or Indeed.com. What makes this portal unique is the fact that it addresses the individual from multiple sides.

We’ve actually vetted and worked with the full spectrum of local resources to ensure that peoples’ barriers are addressed and resolved. We match a specific individual to help for a specific barrier they’ve experienced that’s preventing them from getting a job.

That’s what really excites us. Other services only have one side of the equation—linking an individual with a job. But that’s not treating people like people. The wrap-around services provided by the HWDG portal remove the barriers that make employment difficult.

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Breakthrough 2019 – Bettering Lives With Better Business

Is it possible to do good while making a profit?

The resounding answer from our jobs panel at Breakthrough 2019 was “yes.”

The big question, of course, is how to do it. We heard from mission-driven leaders in the business community dedicated to helping the disadvantaged access the social capital and soft and hard skills needed to excel and thrive:  

  • Michael Jones of Thrive Farmers, whose coffee and tea business not only serves great products but also sought to find an equitable way to support farmers. 
  • Donnell Woodson of FCS Ministries, which works with communities to provide solutions and job resources that uniquely suit a given community. 

Georgia Center for Opportunity’s Hiring Well, Doing Good (HWDG) initiative is dedicated to helping the disadvantaged find and thrive in work. HWDG seeks to understand the barriers that disadvantaged people face (such as lack of childcare, transportation, and housing). We also focus on the type of soft-skills training that is key to getting a job and progressing in it.

Check back soon for more content from Breakthrough 2019!