Job training program uses tough love to alter attitudes of the hard-to-employ
By Diane E. Lewis, Globe Staff, 3/20/05
Crissilla Parris was in a firing mood.
Of the 15 or so adults assigned to her Dorchester class at Strive, a nonprofit job placement and training program, one was stretching and another had too much attitude - firing offenses at Strive.
"Are you going to man up or punk down?" Parris asked Jovan Brown, 21, of Quincy, as he slouched in his chair.
"I want you to stand up straight, give your opinion, take initiative, but I'm seeing you chilling, slouching, stretching. So, I am ready to say get going and stop wasting my time."
It's a gritty yet successful approach to helping the chronically unemployed. Instead of focusing almost exclusively on occupational skills, Strive tears down people's defenses before those barriers sabotage a job search.
And despite cuts in job training funds, Strive is growing. Private funding of Boston's Strive increased from $179,000 in 1994 to $1.4 million in 2005, up from $1.1 million last year. Locally, the program has expanded from a single site that opened in Codman Square 11 years ago to six more, including programs in Chelsea, Roxbury, South Boston, and at the Pine Street Inn. A new site for families opens in Somerville in June, and Strive is now at the Suffolk County House of Correction. Strive spends about $3,000 to train one person. Most programs spend $5,000 or more.
"It's a tough-love model of work readiness and skills training, and it addresses the needs of the hard-to-employ," said Angel H. Bermudez, director of grant making at the Boston Foundation, a major funder.
Originally founded in East Harlem in 1984 by Sam Hartwell, a former Merrill Lynch investment analyst who chairs the Strive board, the organization is now international, with sites across the United States and in England and Israel. Since 1994, Boston's Strive has placed 1,600 in jobs. Of those, 376 were placed last year. In all, 200 employers in Greater Boston have relied on Strive graduates, including Boston College, Children's Hospital, and the US Postal Service. Of those, 35 employers are repeat users.
"We want every position to have a career path so that even if you started in the housekeeping department, you could become head of housekeeping eventually," Hartwell said.
"We challenge them," said Benjamin F. Thompson, executive director of Strive Boston. "A lot of people are never told the truth. In some cases, nothing is expected of them.
"We won't allow men to come here in braids," he adds. "We don't let them come in with their pants hanging off. That scares people."
Most jobs are entry-level, but participants are told that with the right attitude they can advance. In addition, many of the jobs offer workers the opportunity to move up. Strive graduates with advanced skills are placed in higher-paying jobs.
Hartwell came up with the idea for the program after volunteering at the Henry Street Settlement House in New York. He was impressed with the positive results that program had achieved and wanted to duplicate it. With more than $150,000 in donations from friends and colleagues, Hartwell launched the first Strive.
From the beginning, he said, Strive participants must agree to comply with the program's rules. Those who do not comply risk being "fired," but can return later.
"Strive is not for everyone," noted Bill Walczak, chief executive of the Codman Square Health Center and a board member who has employed a Strive graduate.
"But for those who successfully complete the program, it is a ticket into the workforce," he said.
"They are guaranteed a job, and they've been able to finally figure out what kept them out of
the workplace for so long."
Take Tyrone Samuels, of Cambridge. He started working for Valvoline, the automobile oil change chain, last year after a job placement by Strive. His first job was entry level, but now he is being trained for a senior tech position. He says he'd like to be a manager.
Samuels, 42, said the program showed him how to avoid the pitfalls that can prevent ex-offenders from succeeding. "They give me support," he said of Strive. "Everything in life is about pieces. I had some pieces when I came to Strive, but they filled in the pieces I was missing."
Besides mock interviews and resume building, participants learn how to work in a team, take criticism, and complete assignments. Strive also encourages participants to bond so they can support one another when the program ends. After four to six weeks of attitudinal and job readiness training, they go on to computer training.
For most, the program boils down to learning new rules, said Abrigal Forrester, a Strive trainer at the House of Correction on Bradston Street.
"Many of you have allowed your environment to dictate who you are and how you should act," Forrester told about 35 prisoners awaiting parole. "On the corner, not smiling meant you were tough. But do that at work and people will say, 'What's wrong with him?' 'He's got anger management issues,' or 'Is he going postal?'."
Forrester ought to know. He spent a decade in prison on a drug conviction. Then, he received training from Strive. Today, Forrester is married and pursuing a bachelor's degree in psychology at UMass Boston. He wants to obtain a master's degree in clinical social work so that he can better help ex-offenders.
Like Forrester, Crissilla Parris has no plans to leave Strive. A former customer service representative, she joined Strive's staff three years ago after going to the program for help with a career change. She started helping students in her class, and Strive offered her a job. Today, Parris teaches in a classroom that's bare except for a white plastic banner that says: "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."
"This class is about high-level participation with a positive attitude," she told Brown, the 21-year-old from Quincy. "You can't just sit there like a sponge and absorb."
Parris was upset about his laid-back manner and Felicia Thompson's frown. Thompson, 18, of Boston, was behind with her homework because her teammates had not shown up.
"You are adults," Parris told Thompson. "You cannot blame each other. Someone has to take responsibility."
Thompson left the room to consult with trainer Delores Reyes, who helped her with problem solving. Then, Brown confronted Parris. He stood up and took the criticism in stride.
"She doesn't want me to just sit there without getting involved," Brown said of Parris. "You have to have this stuff if you're going out into the job field ..... And I don't want to be flipping burgers or doing retail."
Diane E. Lewis can be reached at dlewis@globe.com.
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