H.O.M.E. Word – A blog from Project H.O.M.E.

Employment can hold different meanings to different people. For some, it is the result of years of study and sacrifice, a realization of their ambition and dreams. Others may consider their jobs just that: a means by which they fund a lifestyle outside of work, whether it is to support a family or to finance an assortment of interests. Still others may perceive their employment as transitory, a mechanism to explore themselves and their place in the world.

At Project HOME, we consider employment a key pillar – joining housing, medical care, and education – in a structure of self-actualization and dignity that allows our community members to experience a deeper sense of recovery and personal meaning. This philosophy animates the programs and initiatives offered through Project HOME’s Employment Services department.

Our Daily Threads (ODT) thrift store, one of three social enterprises operated by Employment Services – the others being the HOME Page Café and Library Attendant Service, both located in the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia.  These businesses actively exemplify the mission of Project HOME. Over the years, the store at 1515 Fairmount Avenue has grown from a primarily volunteer-run enterprise to one fully staffed by five hourly employees, all of whom are formerly homeless and using their experience to re-acclimate themselves to the working world.

“I have a place,” said Ocie Laurel, a sales associate at ODT for the last three years. “I have initiative to be about other things, being homeless for ten years; my work gives me another perspective when I have things that bother me from time to time.”

Picking up on Ocie’s point, while some of the responsibilities at Our Daily Threads may seem to typify the so-called “daily grind” aspect of workaday life – counting the register, pulling out racks of clothing, and arranging scarves along a makeshift display – it cannot compare to the grinding work folks like Ocie put in as they pulled themselves out of homelessness. And the perspective of which Ocie speaks is one born out from the experience of homelessness – and the knowledge that his work has enabled him to both transcend the heavy stigma of homelessness and take comfort in the sense of purpose that arises from meaningful occupation.

And the work is meaningful. For someone like C.B. Williams, an ODT sales associate for nearly five years, his position has supported his sustainable recovery by providing daily structure, direction, and transferable skills. Most importantly, C.B. now has a better sense of himself and his capabilities.

“I didn’t know I had the strength to go on here for five years,” he said.

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Your donations to and patronage of Project HOME’s social businesses provide very important avenues of support to both Project HOME’s community members and the neighborhoods in which they are located.  You help to ensure our employees stay employed while also strengthening local businesses. So stop by the Café for a cup of coffee, or drop off a bag or two of gently-used clothing at ODT. Visit us online for more info on our social enterprises or our Employment Services department.

Jenna Bryant is the manager of the Our Daily Threads Thrift Store.

Betty Mills-Robinson’s story is not one of potential denied, but of potential delayed.

Edith Ann and her big chair. Ernestine the rude telephone receptionist. Trudy the bag lady. Ms. Frizzle from Magic School Bus series. 

These are just a few of the classic characters actor and comedian Lily Tomlin has crafted over the years. But they hardly outshine her role as advocate for and supporter of society's most vulnerable, making her a worthy recipient of this year's Golden Heart Award at a May 2 private fundraising event.

The Golden Heart Award was established in 2009 to celebrate and pay tribute to those individuals who, by the force of their character, the power of their values, and the generosity of their heart, honor the mission of Project H.O.M.E. These individuals strive to make an impact in breaking the cycle of homelessness and poverty – empowering adults, children and families to attain their fullest potential.

Past honorees are Jon Bon Jovi, 2009 and General Colin L. Powell (Ret.), 2011. Tomlin, a long-time friend of Project H.O.M.E., provided her first service to the Project H.O.M.E. community when she peformed her one-woman show, "The Search for Intelligent Life in the Universe", for residents of our women's shelter. 

This year’s event raised $200,000 to help formerly homeless men and women – including veterans – re-enter the workforce and find meaningful permanent employment opportunities.  Specifically, it will expand Project H.O.M.E.’s highly successful Exelon Veterans Training and Internship Program that places formerly homeless veterans in internships and mentors them to re-enter the workforce. We have seen how employment coupled with housing can change people’s lives and their futures. This substantial support truly makes a huge difference in our work, and most importantly changes the lives of the people and families we serve. 

Speaking at the luncheon, a recent graduate of the internship program, Stanford Broadwater, Jr (pictured above with Tomlin) – who formerly served our country as a United States Marine Corps Sergeant – credited the program with not only giving him important job skills, but also helping him reconnect with his family, friends and take on personal obligations that he had previously shirked. Broadwater and six other program participants recently gathered to celebrate their graduation – and their newly-secured employment. PECO, an Exelon subsidiary, was so impressed with the 100 percent success rate they presented a check to Project H.O.M.E. to ensure continued funding for the program. (Read more about the graduation here.)

Thanks to Lily Tomlin, the luncheon co-hosts (Christine Connelly, Jeffrey Gordon, Daniel Hilferty, Lynne Honickman, James and Sharon O’Brien, Lynn Salvo and Susan Sherman), the program sponsors (Exelon/PECO and Independence Blue Cross), and attendees of the 2012 Golden Heart Luncheon. 

Walter Broadnax, right, sits with Special Projects Coordinator Ed Speedling, left.

While at 1515 Fairmount's Employment Services Department, the Mayor emphasized his commitment to finding new ways to combat an old problem (unemployment by those who were previously homeless or who are poor). The Mayor's visit enabled past and current residents to both relate their successes and share their hard-earned wisdom, emphasizing the important role Employment Services programs and staff played in their recovery.

One of those in attendance was Walter Broadnax, a member of Project H.O.M.E.’s Board of Trustees and an employee at the H.O.M.E. Page Café in the Philadelphia Free Library. Walter spoke recently about those opportunities and how they’ve shaped his life.

In 2007, Broadnax found himself “basically homeless” and seriously ill. A trip to a VA hospital – he was discharged from the military in 1979 due to injury – revealed a cancerous right kidney. The cancer, coupled with a substance abuse problem that Broadnax had developed after leaving the military prematurely, left Broadnax with the troubling prospect of a complicated and unsure recovery.

Fortunately, the cancer was successfully removed, but Broadnax was forced to enter the city shelter system while still trying to recover from the cancer surgery and regain the significant amount of weight he’d lost while sick. His luck held, however, and within four months a bed opened at our St. Elizabeth’s Recovery Residence.

“That was the best thing that ever happened to me because it gave me my freedom back,” Broadnax said. He believes his access to a private space, with a supportive community, at St. Elizabeth’s sped his recovery and enabled him to turn his thoughts to the future, rather than focus solely on the present.

And as it turned out, that future included becoming an important member of the Project H.O.M.E. community. In less than two years after first arriving at St. Elizabeth’s, Broadnax moved into his own place and began looking for work. Facilitating his entry back into the workforce was the Exelon Foundation Veterans Training & Employment Program, which placed him at the H.O.M.E. Page Café as an intern. For nearly two years, Broadnax has been working at the café – accruing responsibility and experience all the while – while also helping to ease the transition for new H.O.M.E. Page employees in a peer support role.

“The café is an important aspect of Project H.O.M.E.’s initiatives to create sustainable employment opportunities because it combines the social mission with a smart business model.  It combines the employment angle as well as social support within an environment where our staff can be successful,” said H.O.M.E. Page Café Manager Nathan Matlin.

The Café is but one feature of the Employment Services Department’s slate of services. It joins Project H.O.M.E.’ second social enterprise, Our Daily Threads thrift store; employment opportunity development; alumni support; and more. But the Café, like Our Daily Threads, provides those re-entering the workforce practical experience and, importantly, a paycheck. But these visible examples of Project H.O.M.E.’s mission in action play another important role, said Matlin. “The H.O.M.E. Page Café gives people the chance to see their purchase make an impact; both in the daily growth of our staff and in our support for local vendors,” he said.

As for Broadnax, the Café is offering a way forward, one step at a time. “You’ve got to apply yourself and be patient.”