New location will provide career readiness
training to individuals who face significant barriers to
employment
BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 24,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Truist Foundation announced a
$1 million grant to STRIVE, a
national nonprofit that provides free job training and wraparound
career support services for people facing barriers to quality
employment. Truist Foundation's support will help
STRIVE establish a new site in Birmingham, Alabama, bringing increased access
to economic empowerment and mobility to the residents of Magic City
most disconnected from career building opportunities.
STRIVE Birmingham has just
completed a pilot of its training program preparing students for
careers in nonclinical healthcare and office operations and will
begin its first full cohort in September
2023. Over time, STRIVE Birmingham expects to serve 100
students annually with onramps to good jobs that help lead to
family-sustaining careers.
"This funding will have a phenomenal impact on our local economy
and the lives of Birmingham
residents, especially in the Black community," said Quiwintre Frye,
executive director at STRIVE Birmingham. "Barriers to mobility have
left many of our families disproportionately stuck in the cycle of
generational poverty, and many struggle to see a way out. But
STRIVE opens doors for people and shows them what is possible
despite the obstacles. We are deeply proud to receive this
investment and heartened to know that we have so much support to
make real change for good in Birmingham."
STRIVE's five-pillar model of success includes career readiness,
occupational skills, career coaching, job placement assistance and
lifetime access to wraparound support services. In addition to job
training and certifications, STRIVE connects students to secure
housing, childcare and transportation—common factors that pose
barriers to employment. Lifetime services for STRIVE graduates also
include alumni support groups and workshops and one-on-one
check-ins with a dedicated career coach.
"Truist Foundation aims to fulfill Truist's purpose of inspiring
and building better lives and communities, which often begins with
helping build pathways to steady employment and financial
independence," said Lynette Bell,
president of Truist Foundation. "We believe we can help communities
achieve this through increasing access to training, creating
professional networks and breaking barriers to employment,
especially for those in historically excluded communities, and that
is exactly the type of work STRIVE seeks to do in Birmingham and beyond."
Yesterday, Frye and Bell were joined by STRIVE CEO Phil Weinberg, Truist Financial Chief Teammate
Officer and Head of Enterprise Diversity Kim Moore-Wright and
Truist Financial Alabama Regional President Burton McDonald to formally announce the grant
and the impact it will have in Birmingham.
"We've just announced our new Growth Plan, which involves
significant expansion of our national impact over the course of the
next decade," said Weinberg. "Our vision is ambitious in terms of
both the new cities we will be engaging and the individuals we will
be serving annually, with an increased focus on justice-impacted
populations. This well-timed grant has arrived during an historic
and exciting time for STRIVE and will be a tremendous support as we
amplify the STRIVE impact right here in Birmingham, in Atlanta, and next year, New Orleans."
STRIVE currently operates in 14 cities across the U.S.,
including recently announced New
Orleans, which is currently scheduled to open in 2024.
STRIVE Birmingham is the first
site the organization has developed since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leveraging new knowledge and insights from this expansion process,
STRIVE will work to continue advancing growth in other new cities
and its existing locations, with an ambitious growth plan to scale
its nationwide programs and services over the next decade to expand
from serving 2,000 people annually in 2023, to 10,000 people
annually by 2033.
About STRIVE
STRIVE
(https://strive.org/) is a national workforce
development leader that for nearly 40 years has successfully
provided services to populations facing significant employment
barriers. STRIVE's proven program model moves students into careers
that lead to upward mobility and economic empowerment.
Headquartered in East Harlem,
New York and with operations in 14
locations, STRIVE has helped more than 85,000 individuals prepare
for career success through employment programs geared toward
adults, young adults, and those with involvement in the justice
system.
About Truist Foundation
Truist Foundation is
committed to Truist Financial Corporation's
(NYSE: TFC) purpose to inspire and build better lives
and communities. Established in 2020, the foundation makes
strategic investments in nonprofit organizations to help ensure the
communities it serves have more opportunities for a better quality
of life. Truist Foundation's grants and activities
focus on building career pathways to economic mobility and
strengthening small businesses. Learn more at
Truist.com/Foundation.
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SOURCE Truist Foundation