Reducing Barriers to Employment & Advancement: My Way Out
Inside the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center is a room where learning happens. It’s not a typical classroom – it’s the Empowerment Center, and it’s where individuals are learning about financial literacy, housing support, and digital skills among other topics. My Way Out, an organization empowering justice-impacted individuals and in part supported by United Way, helps them build their path to success.
“When I look out at that room and see those faces, I see leaders,” said Ruben Gaona, Executive Director of My Way Out. “People who are dying to have an opportunity, to be provided an opportunity in order to be successful.”
My Way Out brings together a diverse community of resources, supportive service providers, and employers that reduce recidivism, build strong communities, and keep families together. The organization brings hope to justice-impacted individuals through workshops like Build a Path to Success, which empowers and equips participants with essential skills that allow for successful reintegration into the community.
“We’re walking in humanity with our residents,” said Superintendent Chantell Jewell. “If we’re able to address those needs that brought individuals into the system, we’re able to create healthier and safer communities.”
“Often, one of the biggest barriers for a justice-impacted individual to get a job is ourselves,” explained Ruben. “To believe in ourselves. To understand that our mistakes don’t define who we are, but what we do afterward.”
Through the workshop, participants are able to determine their goals, steps to achieve those goals, and how to navigate life post-incarceration – barriers that many justice-impacted individuals face when looking for a good job with a sustainable wage. The six-week course covers a variety of subjects and also discusses interviewing skills and resumes. Graduates of the course are supported with their next steps upon their release.
“If we want change, sometimes we need to think outside the box,” said Superintendent Jewell. “It’s really about meeting people where they are and helping to promote the best outcome for individuals.”
Your donation to United Way’s Reducing Barriers to Employment & Advancement initiative helps support nonprofits like My Way Out to provide workshops for justice-impacted individuals. United is the Way that we empower community members who are ready to make a change, as they work to build a better future for themselves and their community.