Months before KRA announced its 2016 Community Care Campaign (CCC), KRA’s Baltimore City Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program—operated for the Department of Social Services—was already a designated Community Partner supporting Turnaround Tuesday (TAT), a skills-training and job-placement program for “returning citizens”.
Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development (BUILD) found its efforts to attract Business Partners so successful, they had more unfilled training slots and employment opportunities than ex-offender applicants. Spearheaded by Career Agent Jermietria Carroll, for its 2016 CCC project, KRA/Baltimore targeted several high-crime zip codes and distributed TAT flyers for an Ex-Offender Expo, expanding awareness of the services available to those in the community with criminal backgrounds.
As a result of year-round 2016 support and the Expo, which attracted more than 150 attendees, the KRA/TAT partnership has produced living-wage employment for 265+ ex-offenders with Johns Hopkins and St. Joseph’s Hospitals, the University of Maryland, and Blueprint Robotics, to name just a few valued employers.
L-R: Kyeisha Harvel (TAT); Shunbrika Johnson (KRA); Karen Finch/Leonardo De Rojas Suarez/Mya Maddox (TAT); Jermietria Carroll/John Robinson/Lameisha Mack (KRA); Sonia Marshall (TAT)
Four KRA/Baltimore staff attended the Expo, and were proud to accept an Employer Recognition Award for KRA’s “dedication, passion, and hard work to the TAT/BUILD Movement”, which will continue as we support ex-offenders to avoid recidivism through career counseling, job-training, and self-sustaining employment critical for a successful re-entry to society.
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
