The Problem
- Growing up in poverty [likely due in part to underemployment and unemployment] dramatically increases the likelihood of incarceration. Almost one in ten children born to families in the bottom 10 percent were therefore incarcerated at age 30.
- A third of men aged 30 without any annual earnings are either incarcerated or unemployed former prisoners.
*Adam Looney, The Brookings Institution
The Plan B Foundation’s Solution
The Plan B Foundation was founded to break the cycle of unemployment for formerly incarcerated individuals by immediately employing them and supporting them in finding future full-time employment by learning the skills required to keep a job long-term.
When full-time employment isn’t ever modeled for you, it is difficult to understand what you need to do every day to keep your job. The Plan B Foundation mentors participants, and is implementing formal teaching, to support each participant as they navigate through learning how to work full time, all the time.
When full-time employment isn’t ever modeled for you, it is difficult to understand what you need to do every day to keep your job. The Plan B Foundation mentors participants, and is implementing formal teaching, to support each participant as they navigate through learning how to work full time, all the time.
Some of the obstacles participants face that we help them overcome:
Child Care – Balancing work and children, especially for single parents, is something everyone struggles with and is an area of support that is essential. When a participant starts work with the Foundation we pay for child care for the first two weeks. After participants begin receiving regular paychecks we no longer fully cover childcare but we still assist. Importantly, we mentor the participant so that they can learn to budget for child care. Over time, our participant's individualized plan enables participants to learn how to budget and fully afford childcare without assistance.
Housing – Our participants initially live in areas that are riddled with violence and are not safe for them or their families. It wouldn’t be wise for them to stay in areas of Chicago where they got into trouble while they are working to change their lives. So we support them through paying for security deposits for new apartments and rental assistance when needed, should they qualify through working their 40 hour weeks.
Transportation – Transportation to work is problematic if you don’t have a car. Getting to work isn’t easy. If a participant has a car, we help with gas for their first month in the program. If a participant doesn’t have a car, we help them get to work by trains, buses, and with rides to and from the train station. As part of their individualized plan, we work with them to plan so that they can be successful in getting to work.
The desire to work and the motivation to be productive is an expectation. We provide the resources that enable participants to turn that desire into action.
Moral Support – Sometimes it’s easier not to succeed with so many obstacles. We always tell our participants that living a good life is hard, really hard, and there will always be new problems that will cycle in and out of their lives. In prison, life and choices were made for them. Nobody turns off your electricity for nonpayment in prison.
Living a good life is a challenge every day. In our experience, there is a disconnect between the economically disadvantaged and the middle-class. Disadvantaged people seem to believe the middle- class has large amounts of money, and that life is easier and better for them. Yet many times that better lifestyle can be lost by a missed paycheck. Middle-class people tend to think that the disadvantaged are lazy, and they just won’t work, but in reality, they don’t know how to work and manage life. This is why we give second chances by helping participants learn to be successful and provide them a hand up. Many times, they are given just enough that they aren’t incentivized anyway to do the hard work it takes to enter the middle-class. And because of this, we limit the amount of support we provide, our support is meant to help them be successful on their own, and our help is directly proportional to their level of motivation.
Housing – Our participants initially live in areas that are riddled with violence and are not safe for them or their families. It wouldn’t be wise for them to stay in areas of Chicago where they got into trouble while they are working to change their lives. So we support them through paying for security deposits for new apartments and rental assistance when needed, should they qualify through working their 40 hour weeks.
Transportation – Transportation to work is problematic if you don’t have a car. Getting to work isn’t easy. If a participant has a car, we help with gas for their first month in the program. If a participant doesn’t have a car, we help them get to work by trains, buses, and with rides to and from the train station. As part of their individualized plan, we work with them to plan so that they can be successful in getting to work.
The desire to work and the motivation to be productive is an expectation. We provide the resources that enable participants to turn that desire into action.
Moral Support – Sometimes it’s easier not to succeed with so many obstacles. We always tell our participants that living a good life is hard, really hard, and there will always be new problems that will cycle in and out of their lives. In prison, life and choices were made for them. Nobody turns off your electricity for nonpayment in prison.
Living a good life is a challenge every day. In our experience, there is a disconnect between the economically disadvantaged and the middle-class. Disadvantaged people seem to believe the middle- class has large amounts of money, and that life is easier and better for them. Yet many times that better lifestyle can be lost by a missed paycheck. Middle-class people tend to think that the disadvantaged are lazy, and they just won’t work, but in reality, they don’t know how to work and manage life. This is why we give second chances by helping participants learn to be successful and provide them a hand up. Many times, they are given just enough that they aren’t incentivized anyway to do the hard work it takes to enter the middle-class. And because of this, we limit the amount of support we provide, our support is meant to help them be successful on their own, and our help is directly proportional to their level of motivation.
The Plan B Foundation participants work on a variety of projects:
- Yard Clean-ups
- Demolition Work
- Snow Removal
- Litter Abatement
- Office Cleaning & Sanitizing
- Parking Lot Maintenance
- Graffiti Removal
- Power Washing
- Carpet Cleaning
- Window Washing
- Estate Clean Outs
Don’t see a service you’re looking for? Give us a call, we would love to help!