Cara Plus – Revolutionary Workforce Development Initiative Launches in Atlanta
Atlanta Mission Brings Award-Winning Program to Help Homeless Persons Gain Permanent Employment
Workforce development organization Cara Chicago announced the launch of an affiliate partnership with Atlanta Mission, a multi-facility nonprofit organization that annually serves more than 8,000 members of Metro Atlanta’s homeless population.
Through this partnership, Atlanta Mission will adopt Cara’s existing infrastructure of workforce development training to provide people experiencing poverty the training, placement, and retention support needed to get and keep gainful employment.
For nearly 30 years, Cara has honed its services to become a best-in-class agency, placing people into nearly 1,000 jobs a year in Chicago with one-year retention rates of 70 percent for permanent placements. The Chicago institution now seeks to take that formula and help more people facing employment barriers get back to work in other communities around the county.
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“In searching for a partner to help bring Cara’s services to a new market, we found the perfect match in Atlanta Mission,” said Maria Kim, President & CEO of Cara. “Their shared vision of disrupting poverty and homelessness through the power of community is steeped in the very same core values that guide our work. We are beyond thrilled to work with our new friends in Atlanta to help deepen their impact and create real and lasting success.”
Jim Reese, CEO of Atlanta Mission, said the partnership aligns with the organization’s values and core mission: to retain employment and grow in that job.
“The workforce development and alignment of values that Cara brings to Atlanta Mission helps us reach this desired outcome for each of our clients,” Reese said. “We are incredibly proud and excited about this partnership and how it will be used to impact more lives in our city.”
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The launch also marks the formation of Cara’s newest entity – Cara Plus, which engages leaders to build, deploy, and grow strong workforce solutions so that our most vulnerable have the access and opportunity to get back to work. Cara Plus will work with its affiliates, like Atlanta Mission, to create locally owned and operated expressions of Cara in communities across the country.
Through Cara Plus, the Chicago nonprofit is opening new on-ramps for local work and exploring ways to take what Cara accomplishes in cities struggling to alleviate poverty and in need of a sustainable workforce solution, Kim said.
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