D.C. Group Earns National Workforce Award From The Enterprise Foundation, The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation

4/4/2002

From: Samia Malak of The Enterprise Foundation, 410-772-2436; Catherine Keary of J.P. Morgan Chase, 212-270-7171

SAN ANTONIO, April 4 -- The 2002 J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation Awards for Excellence in Workforce Development today honored DC Central Kitchen for its innovative program to help low-income people overcome job readiness challenges and take steps out of poverty. The slumping economy along with personal challenges such as low skills, a criminal history or substance abuse make it difficult for many low-income job seekers to obtain quality jobs that can support themselves and their families.

In 2001, The Enterprise Foundation with funding from The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation launched this annual national awards program to honor organizations for outstanding job placement and retention services for low-income job seekers who face many barriers to employment. Eligible applicants included community-based nonprofit organizations and Native American tribes/Tribally Designated Housing Entities serving clients with low incomes and employment barriers.

Three award winners today were presented $15,000 each at The Enterprise Foundation's third annual Ready, Work, Grow Workforce Conference in San Antonio.

The year 2002 award recipients were:

-- DC Central Kitchen in Washington, D.C., for its Culinary Arts Job Training Program, which combats hunger and creates job opportunities in the food service industry. The program serves unemployed men and women and provides up to 120 students a year with 12 weeks of culinary arts, sanitation and life skills training. At the end of the training, participants receive an official food handler's permit. Through the program, students collect surplus food from area businesses and re-prepare the food into 3,500 meals each day for 140 direct service agencies in D.C., Virginia and Maryland. Upon graduation, almost 90 percent of the students have secured employment, averaging $9 to $12 per hour.

"We are very honored to receive this award," said Robert Egger, executive director. "We work hard to place as many people as possible into good jobs, and this award validates the hard work we've done every day for years."

-- Highbridge Community Life Center in Bronx, N.Y., for its Nurse Aide Training Program.

-- The HOPE Program in Brooklyn, N.Y., which helps individuals from disadvantaged communities achieve economic self sufficiency.

"We are extremely pleased to continue our support for The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation Awards for Excellence in Workforce Development," said Michael Feller, president of The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation. "The three organizations selected in the second year of the awards program exemplify the type of best practices which can be replicated by others to help thousands of low-income persons move out of poverty and achieve success in the workforce."

------ The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation established its national Employment Initiative in 1996 to provide grant funding and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations involved in helping unemployed people find and retain jobs. As part of this Initiative, Chase Job Start helps nonprofit training agencies by providing grants and no-interest loans to help clients meet transitional expenses involved in getting and staying employed. The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation also participates in a five-site Neighborhood Jobs Initiative with The Rockefeller Foundation, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation also partners with The Enterprise Foundation in its nine-site Community Employment Alliance initiative.

The Enterprise Foundation is celebrating 20 years of rebuilding America's low-income communities by helping provide affordable housing, safer streets and access to jobs and child care. Launched by Jim and Patty Rouse in 1982, Enterprise works with partners and a national Network of more than 2,200 nonprofit organizations in 800 U.S. locations. In 1997, the Foundation began the Community Employment Alliance initiative, which works to measurably improve employment services to help people move out of poverty. In 2001, the Foundation worked with local partners to place over 750 low-income job seekers into employment, trained over 3,000 workforce professionals and helped raise $5.5 million for local workforce partners.