STRIVE

CONTACT:

651 Washington St.
Boston, MA 02124
617-825-1800
website

Benjamin F. Thompson, Executive Director

DESCRIPTION:

What? Did you think for one second that an excellent Catalogue for Philanthopy like this would not include STRIVE? Don't you think we watch "60 Minutes"? That is the tone of STRIVE—Support and Training Results in Valuable Employees—a nationwide, no-nonsense, pick-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps, absolute galvanizer of people who have been chronically unemployed for any and every reason—marginal schooling, little or no work history, involvement with drugs and crime, whatever—and who deeply, completely, want to turn their lives around. STRIVE tests that commitment, and if they pass, helps turn them around in only three hard weeks. What is more, it is sensationally successful.

Boston STRIVE was launched in 1994. It attracts clients from all over Boston, but especially Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. None has the educational background, work history or personal skills to obtain a decent job without a complete makeover. STRIVE gives them attitudinal training, and teaches them how to apply for a job successfully: how to dress, walk, smile, shake hands, speak clearly and confidently, and inspire confidence in others by having confidence in themselves; and once on the job, how to take orders, accept criticism, function as team members, and use telephones and computers. STRIVE helps them get job interviews and is a reference for them, often by prior arrangement with leading employers. STRIVE staff follow-through to help the graduates remain on the job or get new jobs if they quit or are fired.

STRIVE assisted over 200 Boston-area residents in 2003, and hopes to place 282 individuals in jobs in 2004. It costs $3,000 to put a STRIVE graduate in entry-level employment. Please. (Smile and mean it :)

(1997: HUMAN SERVICES: Well-Being)