Published: 2008
How we found applicants describes the process by which we invited organizations to apply for grants in all five of our causes. We invited 57 to apply in this cause (employment assistance). 19 completed our Round 1 application; 30 did not apply (the remaining 8 applied in other causes).
Our Non-finalists writeup describes how we narrowed these 19 applications down to our 7 finalists.
We devote one page to each of our finalists, going in depth on what we know about the organization and its activities, to give a better sense of where the claims in our overview come from.
- Year Up seeks out people who are young and low-income but highly motivated, and through a 6-month training course and 6-month internship, aims to place them in high-paying Computer Support and Investment Operations roles.
- St. Nicholas Community Preservation Corp serves low-income people in North Brooklyn with a variety of programs, including a Skills Training program that provides highly specific, targeted, certification-based training. By offering training for a number of different possible careers - from low-paying but plentiful Culinary Services jobs to high-paying Environmental Remediation Technician jobs - St. Nick's aims to get everyone in need earning as much as they can.
- Highbridge Community Life Center serves an extremely low-income community in the Bronx, and like St. Nick's it offers a variety of programs targeted at different groups; these include a Nurse Aide Training Program that helps low-income people become certified Nurse Aides.
- The HOPE Program serves an extremely high-need population, with multiple issues from substance abuse to past convictions, in an intensive job training program (12 weeks plus a 12-week internship). It places clients in jobs paying in the $10/hr range.
- The Vocational Foundation serves disconnected youth (neither employed nor in school), through a 15-week program that aims to place them in jobs that generally pay around $10/hr.
- Covenant House provides a variety of services to disconnected youth, including Skills Training programs aiming to place them in relatively low-skill jobs (similar to the jobs targeted by Vocational Foundation).
- Catholic Charities Community Services is a large, diverse organization serving disadvantaged adults, usually through referrals from the public assistance system.