Site Visits
This was a new item for our Grassroots & Groundwork conference schedule, and it was very well received. It gave participants a chance to join one of four tours to observe and experience EOI poverty-reduction projects in the Portland area, each grouped around a theme:
1) Organizations that work with formerly homeless people.
2) “Green economy” initiatives.
3) Health care related programs.
4) Culturally specific projects.
Each sold-out tour included stops at three microenterprise and/or workforce projects, with lunch provided by McMenamins Kennedy School, an EOI microenterprise.
Portland’s Economic Opportunity Initiative (EOI)EOI is an award-winning program that significantly increases the incomes of very low-income residents. Nonprofit providers, funded through EOI, administer 32 community-based projects. Each project is tailored to a specific group of participants and is intensive and comprehensive enough to give participants a real shot at success. Microenterprises get customized technical assistance. Workforce participants receive job training and employment services, including advancement assistance. All participants are offered personal skills coaching and support services. EOI addresses common needs among the various projects by centrally providing legal services, business marketing services, financial education, credit repair, housing assistance, driver’s license reinstatement, and removal of civil and criminal judgments from participant records. The program’s 2,600 participants are each enrolled in the program for three years, allowing them time to overcome their diverse barriers to success: homelessness, former incarceration, limited English fluency, foster youth, gang-involvement and/or disabilities. The two graduating classes so far have surpassed their goals of a 25 percent income increase. Most participants were unemployed when they entered the program and now have jobs, most with benefits at about $16 per hour. Microenterprises have increased their revenues by an average of 250 percent. To learn more, visit www.pdc.us. |
