By Dianne Anderson

Not long out of jail and next came COVID while Angie was stuck in the middle of college work, having just gotten off parole and making great strides at a local warehouse.

It was not exactly her dream job.

During that time, Angie, not her real name, kept her honor roll status, and she was a starving student. Even with a degree, it was hard to find decent work.

Her mentor recommended Path 2 SEED at Starting Over, Inc.

“They helped me get through that hard time. I’m employed now. Just seeing all the resources, I was able to articulate my skills I had learned in college, and I’ve seen many other people be able to show their skills,” said Angie, who chose not to use her real name because of potential for job discrimination.

In her case, she served over three years incarcerated for assault with a deadly weapon, resulting from years of trauma from domestic violence, and lost her children in the process.

That long and twisted road led to where she works today in family reunification. She expects to graduate from Cal State San Bernardino with her management degree next year.

Besides the Path 2 SEED training, the program gives a stipend even after participants find work to help with extra expenses and provides free work clothes for every profession. If participants have any restrictions for employment, the program matches jobs with each person’s skills and talents.

“Whatever the case, they help individuals find a way to go out and make a life for themselves so they don’t have to go back,” she said.

She commended the program manager for her compassion, especially for people fresh out of the system who have served long stints. Participants learn to go out to interviews and receive the kind of feedback needed to navigate the workforce in ways that other trainings don’t provide.

“Tamara has a way with people,” she said. “Some people come out of prison and say, Oh, I’m hardcore, but she makes it more comfortable for them to be around other people without the hard edge.”

Tamara Ruffin Martin, Employment Program Manager, has also worked for Community Action Partnership of Riverside County under her mentor, the late antipoverty advocate Lois Carson.

Her program, now in its 11th cohort, has trained over 300 people. Judging by the 1,000 applications they’ve received over time, she said there is strong interest from the community.

“Not only have they gained employment, but they’ve reconnected with their communities. We’re not just a direct service provider, but we’re trying to change lives and also to change systems,” said Ruffin Martin, Assistant Director at Starting Over, Inc.

Being active in community volunteerism, reconnecting with family members, and establishing new relationships is a big part of how students come back to the real world.

“For us, that’s critical,” she said. “For me, that’s the most rewarding, to see them functioning in ways that maybe they didn’t participate before.”

Community advocacy and policy awareness are built into training for connection and familiarity with social issues that they can contribute to solving. It cultivates voter engagement, as many of their students are first-time voters.

Digital literacy is another major focus in the 12-week immersion covers using laptops and cell phones in the workplace. Participants go through mock interviews on Zoom, learn how to email, and complete digital job applications.

Her program enrolls about 35 students every 12 weeks, with most completing the program, and about 70% are working while others go back to school.

“We incorporate the fact that you just can’t go get a job. You have to upskill,” she said.

This week, she is excited to be heading out to Pittsburgh to present at the national reentry workforce conference. There, she fwill talk about how they are implementing best practices in the IE for what they hope will become a model program.

Starting Over, Inc. partners with local community college districts, county offices of education, and private and public universities that have student associations supporting the reentry population. They also partner with technical and union apprenticeship programs.

Ruffin Martin, who has 40 years of human resources experience and is a paralegal, said their program handles a lot of administrative law work, but mainly she focuses on matching participants with employers and pushing her clients toward development.

“They’ve been dormant. They’ve been told what to think, see, and do. They have not had freedom to have space, voice, and license,” she said. “Basically, we love them. We teach self-motivation and being disciplined now that someone is not telling them what to do.”

And then there’s the mental health component. Many folks she deals with have been subjected as children to violence in the home.

“We focus on health and wellness because without that, even if they get high-paying jobs, they won’t be able to maintain them or may be tempted to use again or drink again,” she said. “But we can’t want it more than the person. We try to build that inside of them, what is your why?”

For more information, see https://www.startingoverinc.org/programs