S T R I V E  D C

Support and Training Results In Valuable Employees

Washington, DC, like many urban communities, is faced with growing numbers of the hard-to-employ.  They often come from broken or single parent families, with limited education, having had problems with crime, substance abuse or domestic violence.  They need help to escape the vicious cycle of poverty: lost confidence, apathy, cynicism and hopelessness.  They are a burden to themselves, their families and the community-at-large.

At the same time that the numbers of the hard-to-employ are growing, area businesses need help in achieving and maintaining a productive workforce.  Additionally, the Washington, DC community needs help in its attempt to stem the rising inner-city unemployment rate and its resulting increase in crime and neighborhood deterioration. 

STRIVE DC is Washington DC's leading organization meeting these needs by serving its hardest-to-employ residents, area employers and the whole community through high quality job training and placement services.  STRIVE DC has been able to help hundreds of chronically unemployed District residents become productive members of the workforce.

STRIVE DC stands apart in offering attitudinal and job-readiness training, personal assistance in job search, in addition to two years of post-placement support.  Working directly with individual clients, STRIVE DC addresses head-on the personal obstacles to being employed - attitude, appearance, responsibility, accountability, growth.  In cooperation with employers - government agencies, businesses and nonprofits - STRIVE DC matches employer needs with competent, responsible applicants.

To those ends, the STRIVE DC program includes the following:

Job Readiness Training  Participants learn how to:

Ø      Take "personal accountability" for producing requisite attitudinal change

Ø      Take orders, accept criticism and function as team members

Ø      Think in terms of job advancement and long term careers

Ø      Dress and speak appropriately

Ø      Use the telephone and computer, write resumes and fill out applications

Job Placement  STRIVE DC:

Ø      Reaches out to employers to understand their recruitment needs

Ø      Establishes an ongoing relationship with employers

Ø      Places graduates according to their skills and individual circumstances

2 Years of Follow-Up Support  STRIVE DC:

Ø      Stays in contact with its graduates for two years

Ø      Provides mediation between employee and employer

Ø      Replaces graduates in more appropriate jobs

*                      *                      *                      *                      *                      *

STRIVE DC is a 501(c)(3) organization, one of 22 affiliates of the nationally recognized Strive, Inc. Employment Program; each is individually funded and governed.  STRIVE DC, established in 1999, boasts a seven-year record of putting people to work.  STRIVE DC has graduated over 1,200 participants.  STRIVE DC consistently places 75%-80% of its graduates in employment and keeps 75%-80% of those placed working for at least two years.  The organization is supported by foundation, corporate, federal and individual contributions, along with local government contracts.