Job Readiness Overview

STRIVE DC job readiness program was established in August 1999 to eradicate the District’s unemployment statistic and fill the void of effective programs seeking to accomplish this.  Although independently funded and governed, STRIVE DC is just one of a network of centers modeled after the acclaimed East Harlem, New York STRIVE employment program that was established in 1984.  Like its national model, STRIVE DC seeks to place 75-80% of its graduates in jobs and have 75-80% of those placed still employed after two years.

Program Highlights

STRIVE DC works.  Since opening in 1999, STRIVE DC has graduated over 1,500 participants from our job readiness program!  In 2008 the program graduated 153 people and provided job placement and supportive services to an additional 350 graduates.   Recently an analysis of the 2007 graduates was conducted.  The class of 2007 had 138 graduates, of which 65% found jobs with 52% still being employed two years later.

STRIVE DC’s clients are adults (16 and over) from the inner-city who may be school dropouts, have troubled backgrounds, no work history, no income and, by their own assertion, no future.  Their attitudes reflect failure and rejection – as children in school and as young adults.  Many are ex-offenders, homeless or both; some are survivors of childhood abuse and domestic violence.  More than a few have experienced addiction.  When they come to STRIVE DC, they have reached the end of the line, with tragedy ahead.  Approximately 76% of STRIVE DC’s participants come from Wards 5, 6, 7, and 8, the wards with the highest unemployment rates.  On average the program graduates 150 people per year and provides support services to 350 people.