Inspiring Hope with Supportive Youth Employment

Youth economic advancement

Expand existing project, program, or initiative (expanding and continuing ongoing, successful work)

The 2023 Greater LA Homeless Count reported that 75,518 people experienced homelessness in the County. It is vital that we build housing to assist those who are houseless, but it will take more to reduce the number of unhoused people. Seth Pickens writes that “[r]apid re-employment opens a new line of attack by addressing homelessness as an issue of economic opportunity and human potential. Employment can provide income, dignity and housing for individuals.” Studies show that the strongest candidates for employment interventions include youth. But we’re missing a bridge to employment because just getting a job is not simple. Disproportionate gaps in employment exist based on race, gender and nativity. These gaps are the result of systemic barriers that not only make it harder for certain populations to find work but cause trauma that leave people feeling disempowered. There’s a need for employment interventions that help people rebuild their confidence and get comfortable working again

For 12 years, Would Works has been running woodworking training programs for a range of populations. To focus and deepen our impact, we are now in the process of targeting our efforts on the specific needs of young adults, ages 18-30. Our core, restorative skills training program provides a healing, whole-person approach with a trauma-informed space and on-site mental health support, which cultivates people’s capacity to learn. This ensures greater success when we teach our participants basic employability skills and the ABCs of woodworking. WW’s entry level Beginners Builders Program (BBP) is a 4 month long, paid pre-apprenticeship that provides 3 cohorts a year of 10 Artisans per cohort an opportunity to find a new career path in a humanized work environment. BBP Artisans learn how to safely navigate a shop space, working with tools/machines through the making of our wood homewares, cultivation of soft skills, and exposure to the myriad of professions that utilize these skills in the LA woodworking community. WW is committed to establishing a pathway of post-cohort opportunities that together with our human service provider partners can address entrenched social issues through creative work. WW’s creative environment is a safe, family-oriented one that encourages autonomy and teamwork, building a culture of reciprocity where Artisans are invested in what they help build

The communities served by WW reflect LA’s vulnerable population at large; majority BIPOC, many identifying as LGBTQ+ and justice system-impacted. Our programs directly address the entrenched problems currently facing LA in terms of making a living while being a contributing member of society, despite inadequate social welfare and unequal distribution of wealth, resources and opportunities. Beyond employment barriers, food/housing insecurity, Artisans face mental/physical health challenges, and struggle with issues including a broken criminal justice system, redlining, hiring discrimination and systemic racism. WW attempts to address these inequities by offering an inclusive and affirming workplace for all where we dignify the human labor process, alleviate financial hardship and provide career support as Artisans gain confidence, the satisfaction of hands-on work, a sense of belonging and forging paths toward self-sufficiency and long term career paths in the creative economy

A variety of qualitative outcomes is reflected consistently in WW’s Artisan feedback, which speak to the unique value and sense of purpose these programs kindle in the folks served by the organization. In 2023, Artisan Tim completed WW’s program and is now doing paid job training with Angel City Lumber. He shared in his video profile, he’s proud of the work he’s done so far, having gained woodworking and communication skills. “[WW program] builds my character. It builds resilience and work ethic and I feel more confident. There is no cap to learning here”. With the evolution of WW’s programming, there are plans to incorporate additional tools for impact measurement at the onset, midterm and exit of each cohort. For example, WW is folding in the methodology of Rick Snyder’s “Adult Hope Scale”, which defines hope as "a positive motivational state that is based on an interactively derived sense of successful (a) agency (goal-directed energy), and (b) pathways (planning to meet goals)".