The Plan B Foundation

12.29.19
​This foundation was formed as a response to a need that I wasn't even aware of.  I also own a construction labor employment company and earlier in 2019 I decided I wanted to hire ex felons and train them in the construction industry.  My husband and I both had ex felons in our family and knew they were great workers that were trying to change their lives but were often judged by their past mistakes.  We owned this labor company and it was a struggle to find good labor and the idea for hiring and training ex felons was born.  s

As soon as we hired a couple of ex felons we knew that we were on the right path, however, there were so many issues that seemed to be coming up.  There are many reasons that ex felons struggle with when it comes to finding and sustaining full time employment.  Transportation, child care, lack of training and lack of funds to purchase necessary tools and safety equipment are just a few of the hurdles standing in their way.  That is when The Plan B Foundation was born, a foundation to help with those things so that ex felons can help to contribute to society along with everyone else.  We use donations from that we receive to help purchase tools, pay for training, Ventra cards, car maintenance and repairs, ride sharing if needed, child care and many other things.  

One of the things that I was not aware of when I opened this non for profit, was how hard it would be to get the word out and to raise funds!  This is something that every non for profit struggles with in the beginning,I just wasn't prepared for it.  However, it seemed that the word about us was getting out faster than we are getting donations.  So, I have started to turn people away.  Often times people in the suburbs see the violence in Chicago on the news and are tired of hearing about it and turn it off. I know I did for a long time, I thought that they just got what they deserved.  However, there are so many people that do not want to live that life any more and would love to contribute to society but just don't even have a clue as to wear to begin.  As a society it is so beneficial to put ex felons back to work and I am not sure that people think of this.