After a number of years of doing things my way, which always lead to destruction, I felt the need for change in my life. Upon arriving in Memphis in April 2006, I was blessed to meet someone who told me about The Memphis Leadership Foundation. Since I have been employed with Economic Opportunities under the supervision of Mr. Jim Kennedy, only positive things have been happening in my life. I have learned to be consistent in the things I do; I have learned about being a better steward with God's money; I have learned to be more disciplined, and reasonable and have learned many other excellent skills needed to gain employment with a good corporation.
I have met so many wonderful people employed at ECOP and Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company. It is a good thing for me to learn new things on a daily basis and keep moving forward in my life instead of going backwards. "My life today is 150% better than it was a year ago." I am blessed to have been given these opportunities; I feel in my heart that I have an obligation to set a good example for those who will come after me. I give all the glory and praise to God for opening the doors for me to meet all these new wonderful people in my life. "This was the turning point in my life."
Thank you Memphis Leadership Foundation, Economic Opportunities and Barnhart Crane & Rigging Company for all that you do!
Sincerely,
George L. Knox II
*George was hired by Barnhart Crane & Rigging on the 28th of March. PRAISE GOD!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Job opportunities give ex-cons a second chance
Experts say one key to Taking Back Our Neighborhoods is more job opportunities. Especially for ex-cons, who struggle to find any kind of work.
One Memphis program has helped 500 once-troubled souls find a pathway from prison or rehab to meaningful work.
Sidney Harvard now shines a light on the underbelly of trucks instead of the underbelly of life.
"To me any opportunity is a promotion for me from where I came from," Harvard said.
Harvard learned auto mechanics in a Mississippi prison where he spent 13 years.
After his release, Sidney struggled as an independent mechanic and landscaper.
Six month ago, he came to a program run by the Memphis Leadership Foundation's Jim Kennedy:
"We run a business and we actually hire these men. They come to us and they work 40 hours a week and earn a paycheck. Joe, they're not given anything," Jim Kennedy of Economic Opportunities said.
Companies like Barnhart Crane and Rigging then out-source work to the Memphis Leadership Foundation's Economic Opportunities program. It gives men like Sidney Harvard a chance to shift gears in life.
Drug and alcohol screenings help keep the men on the straight and narrow.
With so many convicts being paroled, Harvard says the need for jobs programs like this one is urgent.
"Everybody ain't going to have instant success. But it does work. I believe if more of these was in our community, our community would recover from the crime spree that it is really on," Harvard said.
Starting out at just over six dollars an hour, these men prove themselves and often get promoted.
Instead of committing crimes, some end up buying houses, raising families, and help Taking Back Our Neighborhoods!
One Memphis program has helped 500 once-troubled souls find a pathway from prison or rehab to meaningful work.
Sidney Harvard now shines a light on the underbelly of trucks instead of the underbelly of life.
"To me any opportunity is a promotion for me from where I came from," Harvard said.
Harvard learned auto mechanics in a Mississippi prison where he spent 13 years.
After his release, Sidney struggled as an independent mechanic and landscaper.
Six month ago, he came to a program run by the Memphis Leadership Foundation's Jim Kennedy:
"We run a business and we actually hire these men. They come to us and they work 40 hours a week and earn a paycheck. Joe, they're not given anything," Jim Kennedy of Economic Opportunities said.
Companies like Barnhart Crane and Rigging then out-source work to the Memphis Leadership Foundation's Economic Opportunities program. It gives men like Sidney Harvard a chance to shift gears in life.
Drug and alcohol screenings help keep the men on the straight and narrow.
With so many convicts being paroled, Harvard says the need for jobs programs like this one is urgent.
"Everybody ain't going to have instant success. But it does work. I believe if more of these was in our community, our community would recover from the crime spree that it is really on," Harvard said.
Starting out at just over six dollars an hour, these men prove themselves and often get promoted.
Instead of committing crimes, some end up buying houses, raising families, and help Taking Back Our Neighborhoods!
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