WHOM WE SERVE

Target Audiences - Youth at-risk of dropping out of school; youth and adult offenders during incarceration and post release

What We Do – Provide Interactive seminars and courses for target populations.  We also provide fee-based professional development training for professionals and care givers who work with these populations

When – Days, evenings, weekends

Where – Site-based instruction within correctional facilities, at schools and community-based organizations providing post-release housing and transitional services

Why – Develop skills for:

• Personal empowerment and self-nurturing
• Presentation, communication, and conflict resolution
• Wealth accumulation: how to make money, manage a budget and debt
• Making decisions
• Transforming obstacles into opportunities
• Building relationships that work
• Obtaining and sustaining employment
• Career readiness/job retention

WHAT MAKES THE POWER/EXCEL PROGRAM DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS OF ITS KIND?
Before behavior can change in a person, the thinking behind the behavior must change. To change thinking, we begin with the feelings—often deeply buried from trauma and substance abuse.  In order to set meaningful goals, a person must feel them at the emotional level before  experiencing them at the material level.

No minimum reading level is required for participation in the Power/Excel programs.

SELECTED ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Contracted with a community-based organization in re-entry workforce development to facilitate a grant-based pre-employment readiness course for 130 ex-offenders.  We surpassed our goal of 50% completing and graduated 79%.  103 participants were referred to the Baltimore Re-Entry Center to seek employment

• Designed and presented a 30-hour program in cognitive intervention for 40 male ex-offenders at Christopher Place, emphasizing pro-social communication, conflict resolution,  financial competence,  employment readiness, and personal empowerment   100% of participants were placed into employment.

• Developed and facilitated a 30-hour research-based interactive program in cognitive intervention for approximately 500 incarcerated women, emphasizing pro-social communication, conflict resolution, and personal empowerment.  Preliminary research indicated the rate of recidivism for participants was 20 % below the national average.