veterancare

Charleston-area veterans find more than a second chance through nonprofit

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 21:42:45 GMT

NORTH CHARLESTON — Before her first-ever interview over Zoom, Shakarra Hewttle’s eldest son got up early, double-checking that her headphones worked and her computer was set up just right.

It was Amir Cruz, 13, who suggested the family’s bookshelf, tucked in the corner of their sunken living room, as the backdrop for the video conference call. He unplugged their motion-activated doorbell that loudly alerts the whole house when someone drives by. Background noise being an important consideration when applying for remote positions, like the ones Hewttle is hoping to land.

It’s been over a year since the single mother of two worked. She quit her collections job around October 2021, when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

“They’re watching me,” Hewttle said of her boys, ages 10 and 13, whom she homeschools. “I need them to see how hard I work and that I have a job and that I provide for them.” With the support — and some technical help — from her boys and Second Chance Jobs, a nonprofit that recently received a grant to help Charleston-area veterans who are unhoused or at risk of becoming homeless reenter the workforce, Hewttle is confident she’s now on the path toward self-sufficiency.

Straight out of high school, Hewttle spent five years in the Navy working as an operations specialist and an aviation structural mechanic for helicopters. But since leaving the military, she’s struggled with her health and to find stable housing. While pregnant with her youngest son, she left everything behind, including an abusive partner.

“I went through a really bad relationship, which caused me to have to use that exit plan, where you just had to go,” she said sliding her hands together to show how quickly she had to make a break for it. “You had to leave everything that you knew, and called home.”

She was sleeping on a friend’s floor and her son on the couch. She had no money. No transportation. And nowhere to go. Hewttle reached out to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, where she was placed into transitional housing. She still receives housing support, but two years ago, she moved into a rental property in North Charleston, where the boys each have their own rooms.

In August, the VA connected Shakarra with Second Chance Jobs, where she has access to personal finance classes, career coaching and mental health counseling. “This is life changing,” Hewttle said.

Debbie Slaven, executive director for the nonprofit, said it’s not enough to just get someone a job. They try to build up the support system around particularly vulnerable populations like veterans and the formerly incarcerated in hopes of keeping them from becoming homeless.

“The main thing is to get them stable first, with housing and their basic needs met,” Slaven said. This can be as simple as providing work-safe shoes for a participant, or help with bills.

The organization, which started as a job training program aimed at reducing recidivism among those who had been to jail or prison, received $1.5 million from the Department of Labor to expand its offerings to veterans. To qualify for the Homeless Veterans’ Reintegration Program, an individual must have served in the military and be at-risk or homeless, which could mean they are couch surfing or living in a car, tent, city, motel, shelter, Slaven explained, or referred by another VA-connected program, like Hewttle.

Their focus was on skilled trades like carpentry, electrical and welding, where there is often a dearth of workers, according to Slaven. The grant has allowed the group to expand to more holistic services like counseling.

But the federal dollars, which are spread over three years, can only be used for workforce development and job-specific training, so the nonprofit relies on partners and additional fundraising to help prop up participants in other ways.

Devin Clark, who also served in the Navy, was forced out of his West Ashley apartment when his rent doubled.

Slaven, and her husband Colin, the training coordinator for the nonprofit, helped Clark find a new place near Neal Brothers, a warehouse and logistics company that partners with groups like Second Chance Jobs to hire skilled workers. In November, Clark was hired there as a forklift operator. The job required a certificate, which he earned through the program, and continues to receive on-the-job training and advancement opportunities. But less than two weeks into the job, rent came due, and Clark was again facing eviction.

“I’m out here doing my part, but the cycle doesn’t stop,” Clark said.

The Slavens used their network of veterans’ support groups to cover his bills until Clark earned enough to pay them himself.

“I don’t look for handouts. But handups, I can work with that,” the father of three said. “I’ve been working since I was 14. Just because I wasn’t in the military no more didn’t mean I can’t work.”

Around 2018, the couple started the nonprofit in Aiken. Colin Slaven was just four years removed from a 18-month sentence in federal prison. He had taken a plea deal for financial crimes.

While locked up, Slaven said he saw a revolving door: inmates would get released only to return again because they couldn’t find work and returned to criminal activity. Slaven called it his “ah-ha” moment and started developing the idea that would eventually become Second Chance Jobs. The Slavens boast a 95 percent retention rate among participants for a year after gaining employment.

“It’s not just about getting people the housing, the clothing and the food,” Colin Slaven said. “It’s about getting them self-sustainable again, getting them back on their feet. Getting their pride back, and their hope and faith.”

Hewttle hasn’t landed a job yet, but the interview her son helped prep her for went well, she said. Nonetheless, she says she’ll be happy to be out of the program as soon as possible.

“That means I’m where I need to be,” she said. “They’ve helped me get to where I need to be.”

Second Chances: Efforts Underway to Hire Ex-Offenders

Thu, 27 May 2021 13:34:11 GMT

In May 2012, Colin Slaven was in what he called “the worst time of my life” after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud for his part in an $800,000 auto loan scheme. About six months into his 21-month sentence, British-born Slaven found himself flailing in a South Carolina federal correctional facility that was as alien to him as the dark side of the moon.

Then, he had a revelation.

“God put me here for a reason, and it gave me a lot of time to reflect,” he said. “I didn’t even know what recidivism meant. So I started talking to inmates about their circumstances and listening to what brought them to this chapter in their lives. I found that with a felony conviction, you’re never given a chance. There’s a stigma. When you have a felony, people judge you, but you can’t find employment. I don’t condone crime, but when you’re in survival mode, you may find yourself in a situation where you get busted again.”

Slaven has plenty of company: It’s estimated that 19 million felons in America are facing similar employment challenges. A new book by an investment strategist argues that second-chance hiring — employing people with a criminal record — builds stronger communities, increases public safety and boosts the bottom line.

In “ Untapped Talent: How Second-Chance Hiring Works for Your Business and the Community ,” Jeffrey Korzenik implores business leaders to consider hiring ex-offenders as a counterweight to the sparse labor markets of recent years.

“The tight labor markets of 2018 and 2019 were a wake-up call that businesses should not take an abundant labor force for granted,” he said. “Part of that dynamic is demographic: Roughly 10,000 baby boomers will retire each day over the next decade, and with the millennial generation largely in the workforce, there’s not a next big wave of home-grown workers.”

Like Slaven, Korzenik points to recidivism as a challenge to opportunities for ex-offenders, particularly in the African American community, where one in three men has a felony conviction.

“The pervasiveness of incarceration and subsequent joblessness has robbed these communities of role models, mentors and the intergenerational transmission of skills needed to be a viable employee, so too many young people become involved in the justice system and repeat the cycle over again,” he said. “I see second-chance employment as the critical path to breaking this terrible cycle.”

The second-chance hiring model

Korzenik writes in his book that “the potential for any nation’s economy to grow boils down to two factors: 1) how fast it can grow its employed labor force, and 2) how quickly it can grow the productivity of its workers. The product of this sum is the long-term growth potential.” His second-chance hiring model aligns with these factors.

“The concept is very simple, requiring two processes, one that can identify the people determined to rebuild their lives and the second, which provides them the support to thrive as employees,” he said. “In practice, this means employers must invest time in building partnerships with nonprofits, specialized temp staffing or transitional employment organizations and government agencies to build the right pipeline.”

The investment in second-chance hiring varies according to employers’ individual approach to tackling their labor needs.

“There is absolutely an investment of time, and often there is a financial investment as well,” Korzenik said. “What’s unusual about seeking this talent pool is how many outside resources are available to the second-chance employers —nonprofit service providers, tax credits, government agencies.

“Each employer has to calibrate the program to their needs and resources. A no-cost program that focuses on people who have already rebuilt their lives will yield some previously overlooked talent. On the other extreme, looking at people immediately exiting incarceration will yield more candidates, but will also require the employer to invest more in accommodations and services. Employers need to understand the trade-offs and be very intentional in their process.”

Giving ex-offenders a fair chance

Building a best-in-class hiring program for ex-offenders is not an easy task. Korzenik devotes an entire chapter on how one Ohio-based company, through trial and error, created its “Fair Chance” initiative.

Manufacturing firm JBM Packaging has operated outside of Cincinnati, in Lebanon, Ohio, since it opened in 1985. Although JBM is close to the Cincinnati labor market, the company went through a seven-year stretch where qualified labor was hard to find, particularly among those workers without a car. Attempts to woo area high school students and seasoned workers fell flat, forcing the company to hire expensive, but not always productive temp-to-hire employees.

“Some leaders have built companies from the ground up as second-chance employers,” Korzenik writes in the book. “That is not the case with JBM. By all appearances, [Chief Executive Officer] Marcus Sheanshang came to second-chance hiring as an ordinary businessman with an ordinary business problem. But with Sheanshang’s leadership, the way this initiative changed the company and the lives of its employees was extraordinary.”

After learning of the second-chance hiring concept from church members, Sheanshang took the idea to his executive team, who roundly criticized it over issues of safety and performance.

“Fair Chance is a tenet of what we’re trying to do as a company,” said Sheanshang. “Not everyone loves it, but they’re behind it and support it because it’s important.”

“These concerns really speak to the necessity of having a process for selecting the right person for employment,” said Korzenik. “With a pool of 19 million Americans with felony convictions, it is ridiculous to say that all of them are unsuitable. There are screening processes that can be very effective.”

To make its employees feel safe, JBM limits its second-chance hiring to those convicted of minor offenses. Since it works with prisons and halfway houses, JBM is aware of candidates’ criminal history and conducts background checks before the candidates’ release date. Drug screenings, manufacturing aptitude tests and a screen for workplace fit round out the process.

“Many of these same sources of talent referrals can also provide support services, but ultimately the employer has to be sufficiently involved to make sure their workforce can access internal and external resources,” said Korzenik. “One of [JBM’s] best investments was hiring a life coach, who helps all of the company’s employees access helpful programs, subsidizing purchases of vehicles or other transportation needs, for example.”

Despite the early bumps in launching the program, JBM’s Fair Chance employees now comprise 35 of the company’s 150-person workforce.

Allies in the fight for second-chance hiring

While in prison, Slaven said his spiritual epiphany led him to draft a business plan for what is now the Second-Chance Job Center , a Charleston, South Carolina-area-based nonprofit that trains ex-offenders and others in a variety of job-related skills. Though the program is primarily focused on the state of South Carolina, Slaven said he hopes to expand soon into parts of Georgia and Florida, and eventually nationwide.

“We need to create the next generation of a skilled workforce,” he said.

In a similar vein, the Manufacturing Institute and the Charles Koch Institute recently announced a partnership to expand second-chance hiring opportunities in the manufacturing industry.

“I agree with [the premise of Jeff’s book],” said Carolyn Lee, the manufacturing institute’s executive director. “When you look at the number of people, I think one out of three have some sort of record that removes them from the workforce. And, when you look at the 700,000 open manufacturing jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s a bit of a no-brainer.”

The partnership includes a grant from the Koch institute to host a series of educational events where businesses and employers can learn best practices in second-chance hiring. The Manufacturing Institute has scheduled a webinar on the topic on June 10.

Cost of failure

Businesses that do not embrace second-chance hiring are making a big mistake, Korzenik contends.

“At the micro level, the failure to attract good employees means you can’t grow or perhaps can’t even service your existing customer, putting the business at a huge competitive disadvantage,” he said. “The macro level is just based on the numbers. Even if you don’t account for the potential costs savings in the criminal justice system, just the potential improvement in employment outcomes for just part of the justice-impacted population adds up to hundreds of billions of dollars.”

Adopting second-chance hiring also has an impact on a company’s social brand in the marketplace.

“Americans are increasingly questioning whether the free enterprise system can deliver the kind of society we want,” Korzenik said. “Businesses need to show that they can contribute to solving important societal issues. It’s hard to imagine anything more beneficial than second-chance hiring and its intergenerational benefits to families and communities.”

A Second Chance: Job program offers a hand up

Fri, 06 Mar 2020 21:30:25 GMT

The idea that “everyone deserves a second chance” is at the heart of a new nonprofit organization in action around Aiken County and beyond, with emphasis on helping reduce unemployment in such fields as manufacturing, construction, landscaping, plumbing, painting and solar installation.

Second Chance Jobs , as described on its website , looks to help veterans, displaced workers and non-violent offenders “by providing real career opportunities to make a difference for themselves and their families through education, training, pre-apprenticeships, full apprenticeships and job/career placement.”

Some participants offered feedback on the North Charleston-based program this month, recalling their weeks of work with Second Chance Jobs.

Kelly West, a Springfield native now living in Aiken, said his background includes a degree in criminal justice and plenty of experience with highway construction. These days, he is working with Belvedere-based Adams Installation and Gutter, and much of his attention is going to custom-built closets and shower glasses.

“I’m the lowest guy on the totem pole,” he noted, adding that he has had plenty of encouraging feedback from his boss and thoroughly enjoyed the company of his workmates. One of the best aspects of the situation, he said, is their willingness to share job-related knowledge freely – something he did not always encounter in previous work situations. One of his challenges in recent months involved trying to get a job despite having spent a couple of years in prison. Being on probation “made things more difficult,” he said, in terms of filling out job applications and wanting to be honest in the process.

Jackson resident Blair Freeman, a native of North Augusta, is now focusing on carpentry – a field that calls on many of the same skills that he used years before in electrical work. “I learn something new every day,” he said. The job so far has included work in such locales as Greenwood, Augusta (“a couple of times”), Allendale and Graniteville, and the travel is a welcome part of the day-to-day situation, which includes plenty of time up on a 12-foot ladder, he said.

“It’s very difficult ... My trainer gets me up to speed quickly. He has my back. You get frustrated, but you’ve got to get that will power in yourself to go ahead and finish out the job.”

The work schedule is consistent – 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. almost every day – and one of the work’s most satisfying aspects is in being able to polish his skills to the point of executing a job more quickly from day to day.

Sherrell Roberts, a North Augusta resident with several children, was featured prominently in a recent article in the Post and Courier, Charleston’s daily newspaper, telling the Second Chance Jobs story, including its presence in Charleston County’s school district.

Roberts, who does not have a criminal background, needed some help in her job search, having earned her GED in 2012 and gone on to college for a degree as a pharmacy technician. She got an introduction to a variety of trades through Second Chance Jobs and did some independent research, and now she works in Augusta for Rob Zapata’s Electric, as the warehouse manager, helping ensure that electricians have the right equipment – from outlets to fueled, well-maintained vehicles – day to day.

The electric business’ owner (and namesake) said that he and his team knew, after giving Roberts a trial run, that she was “doing an awesome job and cares about what we do here.”

Chrissy Bailey, the business’ officer manager, gave Second Chance a thumbs-up review, noting, “They’re easy to work with, they communicate well, they invoice accordingly and they’re on time with all of that.”

“I didn’t expect to gain as much as I did,” Roberts said, recalling the process of quitting her previous job and moving into the Second Chance program, including basic training. “I stepped out in faith.”

The jobs program is now reportedly “expanding services to a more diverse group of people, which now includes high school and college students,” as noted in the Charleston article . “The nonprofit has partnered with the National Homebuilders Association and the Homebuilders Association of Charleston. The nonprofit trains people in pest control management, electrical, plumbing, weatherization, HVAC and other trades.”

Debbie Reese, Second Chance’s executive director, has come to know the route between Charleston and Aiken well in recent months, working with fellow Charleston resident Colin Slaven, the program’s founder and president, in helping lay groundwork in 2018-19 around the CSRA. Second Chance’s first classes in Aiken were in January 2019.

The program’s origins, Reese said, are in an outreach called Inmate Care , focusing on support for inmates and their families before, during and after incarceration, with plenty of emphasis on finding meaningful work after departure from prison. A related program, 327 Careers , offers classes for high-school graduates at the end of the school year to help open doors for people considering a career “in a skilled labor trade and assist them through education, training, pre-apprenticeships, full registered apprenticeships, nationally recognized certifications, job and career placement, as stated on the website.

Among Second Chance’s local boosters is Lessie Price, a longtime Aiken City Council member. “I have been with them almost since they have come to Aiken, and it’s certainly a program that does exactly what the words say – second chances, and sometimes third chances,” she said.

“The emphasis is to get these folks who have some criminal history and sometimes those who are struggling to get into the work force, to help them to acquire some skills to earn a living and that’s what Second Chance is doing. It is a great program,” she said.

Roberts described it as “a very great program,” and added, “I would recommend the program for everybody. Everything they say is the truth. They’re going to find you a job ... They’re not just going to throw you into any job. They’re going to find a job that’s the right fit for you.”

She said her boss, Rob Zapata, is “the absolute best,” and she also commented on the Second Chance Jobs leadership. “They care about people before anything, and when you have people like that, who care about people, it takes it to another level.”

Details on the various programs are available at www.secondchancejobs.org and (866) 7-CHANCE, also known as (866) 724-2623.

New nonprofit to train formerly incarcerated, veterans, high school students in trades

Sun, 02 Feb 2020 14:34:11 GMT

Three years ago, Kelly Grant was charged with an armed robbery. Drug addiction — which stemmed from prescribed medication used after a surgery — led to the armed robbery of a local pharmacy. He served two years in prison and though he had a career before his incarceration, he wanted to do something different.

Grant has an associate degree in criminal science and had prior work experience with the state Department of Transportation and a private engineering firm. He isn’t sure if his incarceration kept him from getting a job, but when applying he did have to check the box to say he’s been convicted of a crime.

Grant learned about Second Chance Jobs, a nonprofit that created job-training programs for the trades and matched men and women released from prison with local businesses in Aiken and Augusta, Ga. Last year, the group extended the client reach to include veterans and homeless men and women.

“It’s kinda like a temp service but they are giving you an education in a field,” Grant said. It also helps people secure trade certification. He now installs showers and mocks up custom construction drawings. It’s more hands-on and more people-oriented, which he likes. He’s been in the job almost six months. Grant said he’s happier now.

Second Chance Jobs provides three to four weeks of academic training, building or manufacturing training, as well as mock interviews and help in writing cover letters and resumes. Of the 70 people who completed the program, only seven didn’t retain the jobs they were placed in.

Second Chance Jobs isn’t the only post-incarceration transition program in the area. Fresh Start Visions in North Charleston provides housing and connects people with hospitality-based jobs. In September, the state Department of Corrections began offering job training programs for current maximum security prisoners. The department has offered job training for lower level offenders for years.

Founded by Debbie Reese and Colin Slaven in 2018, Second Chance Jobs is branching to the Charleston area and expanding services to a more diverse group of people, which now includes high school and college students. The nonprofit has partnered with the National Homebuilders Association and the Homebuilders Association of Charleston. The nonprofit trains people in pest control management, electrical, plumbing, weatherization, HVAC and other trades.

“We’re working directly with high schools and colleges offering apprenticeship programs,” Slaven said. “We need to create the next generation of a skilled workforce.”

The school programs are under a different umbrella called 327 Careers. Reese said it is the lack of shop programs statewide that showed the need for a high school and college program.

North Augusta resident Sherrell Roberts completed the program last year. She doesn’t have a criminal background, but she’s struggled with finding a job that would help support her six children.

“We were given a lot of attention, so if we struggled with anything we got the attention we needed,” Roberts said. “We were introduced to different trades like electrical, HVAC, irrigation and carpentry.”

She’s worked as a welder, in kitchens and on an assembly line. She earned her GED diploma in 2012 and went to college to earn a degree as a pharmacy technician. “I did a lot of research and I wanted to do a trade that was best for me,” Roberts said. “I knew I was good with my hands.”

Roberts, 33, decided to focus her attention on the electrical trade. The classes included training on how to be professional, write a professional resume, cover letter and mission statement. They brought in business employees to do mock interviews. She was the first of her class to to receive a job interview, and shortly after, she was hired by Rob Zapata’s Electric.

“All my life I’ve worked dead-end jobs and I couldn’t finding a promising job,” Roberts said. “They found me not only an employer, but a family.”

Four months later she was promoted to a management position.

“I know I have job security,” Roberts said. “They didn’t just place me with somebody. They did everything they said they would, plus more. Now I’m financially stable.”

Reese said the Charleston-area class hasn’t been finalized yet, as 10 applicants are going through various phases of the application process. The class starts in March. The nonprofit will have classes at the Dream Center at Seacoast Church, 5505 N. Rhett Ave., North Charleston, and at three high schools in Charleston County. Reese said the organization is finalizing location spaces in West Ashley and Mount Pleasant.

For more information, go to secondchancejobs.org .

‘Divine intervention’: Nonprofit gives local workers a second chance

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 20:33:04 GMT

Colin Slaven and Debbie Reese brought Second Chance Jobs, a nonprofit that trains employees for trade industry careers, to Aiken about six months ago.

“Trade jobs are an excellent source of income,” said Reese, who serves as the nonprofit’s Executive Director. “They’re in high demand, they’re over 70 percent understaffed, so it’s an excellent program.”

Today, Second Chance Jobs has expanded from its home base in Charleston throughout South Carolina and into other states. They partner with many businesses at the local level to get people searching for viable careers certified and placed in trade jobs like construction, welding, and carpentry.

Second Chance Jobs has been involved significantly since its inception in a detention center in Europe, where Colin Slaven, the Executive Director of Second Chance Job Center, wrote the business plan from inside a cell.

“I’m an ex-offender myself,” Slaven said. “I wrote this business plan when I was incarcerated for 18 months … 18 months seems like a long time, but some of these guys have been down for 10-20 years.” During his time as an inmate, Slaven witnessed a disturbing cycle of recidivism, in which some inmates who committed a nonviolent crime were unable to find legitimate work due to their criminal record, and resorted to illegal activities to pay their bills and support their families.

“Upon re-entry, the biggest problem for them is having ‘ex-offender’ on the record,” Reese said. “Having that means it’s going to be very, very hard for them to find employment.”

Slaven wanted to provide an opportunity for those inmates to leave criminal activities behind by providing them with viable jobs in the trade industry. “They’re all hurting in the industry,” Slaven said ”…What’s happening is they’re going to the employment agencies and they can’t find the skilled workers, because they’re nonexistent.”

By getting nonviolent ex-offenders certified in the trade industry, Slaven realized he could help fill a gap in the workforce while keeping incarceration and crime rates down. The program was called Inmate Care.

The program evolved into Second Chance Jobs when Slaven and Reese realized it could benefit far more than just ex-offenders. “The shops, the things where they would build and do carpentry, they’re out of the schools now,” Reese said. “...It’s a mentality drilled into kids that they go to college and get a four year degree, and when some get out, they can’t find a career in their field, and they’re sitting on $100,000 of student debt.”

Reese said many of those students could complete an apprenticeship in a trade job debt-free. “In the time their friends have gone into college and spent at least $100,000 for four years, they have made well over that, can probably buy a house, have a car, and are just going to go up,” Reese said.

Other people who benefit from the Second Chance Jobs programs are veterans, people who want out of the food and beverage industry, stay-at-home mothers, and others who have gone through life changes like divorce or layoffs. The program has become so expansive that ex-offenders only make up 10 percent of the group’s workforce. In Aiken, Second Chance Jobs has started partnerships with several local businesses like Mr. Central Heating and Air Conditioning and Absolute Green Insulation.

“What’s even more exciting about Aiken as a city...when I say divine intervention, when I say the support and synergy is unheard of, (it is),” Slaven said.

Slaven also said Second Chance Jobs is the first “entity” in the United States that has been approved to manage, operate, and facilitate apprenticeships for local businesses. Many community leaders and businesses came together quickly to launch Second Chance Jobs in Aiken.

Aiken city councilwoman Lessie Price said the program will help get people “income-sufficient” and off subsidies, while spreading wealth and support to their local communities.

“It does provide an opportunity for lots of individuals, and this is also an opportunity for them to earn a living wage, not minimum wage,” Price said. “So that stops the whole pattern of folks having to work two and three jobs and have no time for themselves...often times people need a fresh start, and this is an opportunity for someone to get fresh start. Not just a job, but a career.”

Second Chance Jobs gives applicants a 16-week apprenticeship called the Pact Program that is certified by the Department of Labor. During that time, applicants receive cognitive and skills training with the nonprofit and hands-on training with local trade businesses.

Once they complete the program, they can chose to complete more advanced apprenticeships which, like a degree, will allow them to earn more money, or the nonprofit will help place them in jobs with their business partners.

To learn more about Second Chance Jobs, visit secondchancejobs.org.