Blog

Center for Employment Opportunities is thrilled to be a beneficiary of the 2022 Beloved Benefit in Atlanta! The Beloved Benefit is an annual gathering to support organizations promoting equity and building strong, healthy communities in Atlanta.

Today, CEO was thrilled to host Grow With Google at our Oakland location to announce the expansion of their career readiness program for justice-Impacted communities. CEO will scale digital skills training into our job-readiness programming at all 31 locations.

Shannon has made a career turning struggling businesses into winning operations. But his biggest success has been his ability to turn his own life around in a way that positively influences many.

Losing a job during the pandemic could have been a catastrophe for Shaun. But thanks to the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) program and our Returning Citizens Stimulus (RCS) cash assistance, this setback didn’t stop him from achieving economic mobility.

Jordan, a Center for Employment Opportunities participant in San Diego, didn't think he'd need access to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). While transitioning back home, Jordan's sober living facility provided meals. Even if he had been eligible, Jordan didn't want to apply for a benefit he didn't need. But like so many, Jordan was negatively impacted by a SNAP policy that penalizes people for getting employment training.

At CEO, we have a vision that each person returning home from incarceration will have access to a quality job and economic mobility. Even though more than 600,000 individuals return home from incarceration each year, they are largely unable to access our country’s public workforce system and the support needed to focus on employment training during reentry. This past winter, CEO invited federal lawmakers to 9 of our sites to hear directly from justice-impacted experts on needed changes to law to make employment training better.

Devon Hickman, CEO Cleveland Site Director, testified before the Ohio legislature in support of SB 288, which expands opportunities for judicial release in Ohio.

“Growing up, I always wanted to be popular and fit in,” Jose says. “That’s basically how it all started.”

Carmen was 40 years old when she found herself caught in the grips of addiction. Carmen’s life began spiraling out of control, resulting in recurring trips to jail and drug clinics, followed by long stretches of probation. She felt her life was starting over again from scratch every time she returned from incarceration or rehab, with no resources or support system. Carmen’s children grew weary of the seemingly never-ending routine, and cut off contact with their mother.

Joel was raised in Uptown New Orleans, the youngest of four siblings. Being the “baby boy,” as he calls himself, Joel grew up mostly with just his mother in a “crime-ridden neighborhood.”

“For individuals returning from incarceration,” Christopher says, “financial support is needed immediately. Without my SNAP benefits, I hate to imagine what life would have been like for me coming home. I never want to be in that position of desperation.”

Isaac talks on a cell phone outside of a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) training center in Detroit, Michigan, during his lunch break. Despite the cold weather, he insists that the fresh air is gladly welcomed. After being incarcerated for over four decades, he is taking the reentry process “day-by-day.” While acknowledging his strong support system of family members, he admits that the transition hasn’t been without its difficulties.