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- EIN 36-4268095
- info@thecaraprogram.org
- 312-798-3300
- 237 S. Desplaines Chicago IL 60661 USA
- www.thecaraprogram.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: Adult Education, Education, Employment Preparation & Procurement, Homeless & Housing, Homeless Centers, Human Services, Job Training
Mission:
The Cara Program (TCP) assistsmotivated individuals affected by homelessness and poverty to transform theirlives and achieve real and lasting success, by providing comprehensivetraining, permanent job placement, and critical support services.
WHAT WE DO: TCPprovides an innovative spectrum of services to the individuals we serve (our“students”), which includes life- and job-skills training, industrycertifications, opportunities for transitional employment, placement intopermanent, quality employment and intensive post-employment support. We alsoprovide a comprehensive solution to the interrelated challenges of poverty,personal barriers to employment, shortage of skilled workers, re-integration ofex-offenders into society and a need for community revival.
- We address poverty by giving homeless and disadvantaged individuals the opportunity to secure permanent employment through an extensive range of training, support, and job placement services.
- We mitigate many barriers to employment and address the skills shortage by providing our students with on-the-job training and industry linked training courses. We also maintain relationships with more than 120 Chicagoland employers who trust the quality of our candidates for filling their entry-level positions.
- Through our social enterprises, Cleanslate Neighborhood Beautification Services (launched in 2005) and Cleanslate Property Services (launched in 2009), we provide transitional employment to individuals with higher obstacles to employment, and stimulate community vibrancy by providing neighborhood beautification services that boost neighborhood pride.
- And, we maintain a strong community presence through our two community centers, the Quad Communities Center for Working Families and the Career Pathways Resource Center on the University of Chicago’s campus.
TCP, however, is more than asuccessful and well regarded workforce development program with a strongcommunity presence. We are a catalyst for true change and real, lastingsuccess in our students'' lives. We raise the bar on what it means toreclaim neighborhoods block by block, and teach valuable job skills in theprocess. We provide our students with the skills and confidence to secure andsustain quality jobs, further their education, and find stable housing, whilealso empowering them to lead lives of personal and professional excellence.
Target demographics: The Cara Program assists motivated individuals affected by homelessness and poverty in Chicago. We serve adults ages 21+, and our students' average age is 40. For more details about our admissions requirements, click here: http://www.thecaraprogram.org/referral-admissions
Programs: In 2009, The Cara Program will accept a total of approximately 800 new students (ages 18 - 65) who fit our screening criteria (i.e. are adults affected by homelessness or poverty, substance abuse-free, mentally stable, and motivated). The Cara Program serves individuals throughout Chicago, with the majority coming from neighborhoods across the south and west sides of the city. PROGRAM ACTIVITIESThe Cara Program provides an unparalleled network of support that helps homeless and at-risk individuals reinvent themselves, secure long-lasting employment and foster improved outcomes that ultimately help alleviate the intergenerational effects of poverty in our communities. PERSONAL & PROFESSIONAL SKILLS: The first four weeks of the program focus on life skills training, called Transformations, to lay the foundation for a student's participation in The Cara Program. Through this training students realize that there are ways to overcome obstacles and achieve real, lasting success in their personal and professional lives. JOBS SKILLS & SPECIALIZED SKILLS TRAINING: This Career Development Training starts with classes in professionalism, customer satisfaction, and basic computer skills training. Then, based on their career assessments with our Corporate Account Managers, students may elect to participate in an internship or any number of trainings offered by The Cara Program?s external training partners. Many of these trainings have been developed in tandem with our employment partners, in order to prepare Cara students with the specific skills that the employment partners demandINNOVATIVE TRANSITIONAL JOBS: Cleanslate is a neighborhood beautification business providing on-the-job training and transitional support services for Cara students who face significant obstacles to employment, including recent incarceration. Through Cleanslate, interns learn work ethic, customer service, professionalism, timeliness, attention to detail, relationship management and other skills to help them secure and sustain quality permanent employment. Cleanslate currently provides services in eleven Chicago communities, in addition to contracting work with the Department of Streets and Sanitation and the Department of General Services and clean-up services for Chicago events.PERMANENT JOB PLACEMENT: Each participant is guaranteed a permanent job with benefits so long as they fully participate in The Cara Program's curriculum. Through our traditional services, we place graduates in quality jobs at one of 120 companies throughout the Chicagoland area. INTENSIVE SUPPORT SERVICES: To ensure that Cara graduates have the tools they need for long-term self-sufficiency, we offer what we call "aggressive outreach." This includes needs assessment, financial literacy training and a five-to-one matched savings program, development and management of housing goals, including rental assistance, emergency utility payments and eventual transition to home ownership, procurement of external resources such as childcare to facilitate the employee's long-term success, and consultation for the employer to anticipate and proactively overcome obstacles to our employed students' success in the workplace. Beginning in 2009, we will increase our services from their current one year of post-employment support, to two years of support and ultimately career advancement of the working poor. As proud as we are of our successes to date, we have seen that if we continue helping our students to develop their skills, integrate the power of advanced education, and move from stability on the job to advancement in a career, they will have a much greater likelihood of sustaining a career which will lift the entire family permanently out of poverty (earning 1.5x the federal poverty level or more). For more information on The Cara Program's services, please visit our website: www.thecaraprogram.org.