Our Reducing Barriers to Employment & Advancement initiative is anchored in the belief that all adults of working age should have the opportunity to start stable careers, at workplaces where they are treated with dignity and have opportunities to support and provide for their families. When everyone has access to family supporting income from work that affirms their dignity, our whole community is stronger on every level.
In 2024-25, we are funding the work of 16 programs committed to reducing key employment barriers.
Meet the 2024-25 grantees for funding:
Benedict Center
Program Name: The Bridge Program: Supporting Justice-Impacted Women
Program Description: The Benedict Center's Bridge Program focuses on employment services, housing navigation, legal advocacy and peer support and works in tandem with the behavioral health counseling, reentry case management, harm reduction services and advocacy in our other programs, creating a continuum of services specifically designed for justice-impacted women.
Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin, Inc.
Program Name: Think Ability Wisconsin
Program Description: The DSAW's Think Ability Wisconsin program works to combat the historical discrimination of, and lack of employment education/opportunities for, people with disabilities. Think Ability Wisconsin creates and provides supporting programs that help adults with disabilities to learn a new skill or trade and earn new certifications.
Employ Milwaukee
Program Name: BankWork$ Expansion to Industry Access and Advancement Initiative
Program Description: Employ Milwaukee's BankWork$ Expansion Industry Access and Advancement Initiative works to enhance the status of low-skilled job seekers by offering an array of industry-led training programs to prepare them for in-demand entry-level jobs that offer the chance for advancement.
Forward Careers, Inc. (FCI)
Program Name: NEXT (Nursing. Equitable. Expansion. Training.) Program
Program Description: Forward Careers' NEXT program is designed to address the increasing need for skilled healthcare professionals, prioritizing equity by focusing on training individuals from marginalized communities, facilitating training access, and offering continuous assistance throughout their educational journey. Dedicated career planners are assigned to each participant, providing unwavering support to ensure they stay on track for graduation and succeed. Additionally, barrier assessments enable planners to address transportation, childcare, and housing needs.
Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin
Program Name: United for Good CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) Program
Program Description: Goodwill's United for Good CNA program partners with Herzing University to implement a 5-week CNA class consisting of online asynchronous classes, in-person labs (22 hours) at Goodwill, and an in-person clinical (16 hours) at a community healthcare facility. This program will create a pipeline of meaningful livable wage jobs in the healthcare pathway and to meet the demand for this role in the Milwaukee region.
JobsWork MKE
Program Name: Reducing Barriers to Employment and Career Development
Program Description: JobsWork MKE is a nonprofit agency serving Milwaukee-area adults seeking job placement and career development services. Although the provide wraparound support, JobsWork focuses on moving members from low-skill” positions to “mid-skill” positions that require more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year degree.
Legal Action of Wisconsin
Program Name: Legal Action of Wisconsin - Road to Opportunity Project
Program Description: Legal Action of Wisconsin is a nonprofit civil legal aid law firm that provides free legal representation to people experiencing poverty. Their Road To Opportunity Project works on expungements, pardons, resolving court sanctions caused by nonpayment, professional licensing issues, and citation defense.
Literacy Services of Wisconsin
Program Name: Credentialing for Opportunities, Resources, and Employment (CORE)
Program Description: Literary Services of Wisconsin's CORE program offers their adult learners opportunities to participate in their vast range of programming including: English Language Learning, Adult Education, Adult Ed Program for Corrections, GED Preparation, Online HSED, Construction Sector HSED, Manufacturing Sector HSED, MATC Career Pathway Partnership, and HSED for English Learners.
MATC Foundation
Program Name: Expanding CNC Training & Employment Opportunities: Uniquely Abled Academy and More
Program Description: MATC’s Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA), provides CNC education, training, and job preparation for those who are neurodivergent and more. Through this programming, participants will be trained in machine tool operation, which provides efficient training and quick launch into family supporting career.
Milwaukee Community Service Corps
Program Name: MCSC Core Training Program
Program Description: MCSC’s Core Training Program helps adults learn new job skills and earn national/industry recognized credentials. This program gives trainees opportunities to: explore different types of jobs, gain more job skills through hands-on coaching, build experience, and develop positive work behaviors desired by employers.
MobiliSE (MetroGO)
Program Name: FlexRide Milwaukee
Program Description: FlexRide for Working Parents is a specialized offering of FlexRide that allows riders to take kids to childcare, then go on to work, and then back again. FlexRide for Working Parents is a unique collaboration between MobiliSE and Employ Milwaukee to address the transportation gap that faces working parents.
My Way Out
Program Name: Workforce Readiness – Leading with Equity & Empowerment
Program Description: Enhances and implements evidence-based reentry practices of justice impacted individuals resulting in a safe and seamless transition for reentry via targeted pre-release programs, post-release wraparound case management services, and peer support for up to three years. My Way Out is actively engaged in providing essential skillsets through education, training and access to credentials with their target audience of justice-impacted individuals who are reentering the workforce.
Next Door Foundation
Program Name: Pathways Program
Program Description: Next Door's Pathways Program is a workforce development initiative designed to address the teacher shortage in our industry by building a pipeline of high-quality early childhood educators at Next Door. Programming now includes on-site college courses from Milwaukee Area Technical College to help employees earn an Infant/Toddler Badge and rise to an Associate Teacher at Next Door.
Project RETURN, Inc.
Program Name: Project RETURN: Meeting the Re-Entry Needs of Formerly Incarcerated People
Program Description: Project RETURN’s programming addresses "justice impacted individuals” in two ways: through direct services that prepare people for good-paying jobs and through advocacy to address systemic issues that hinder re-entry and employment success.
Wisconsin Community Services (WCS)
Program Name: Driving to Work
Program Description: Wisconsin Community Services, Center for Driver's License Recovery Program extends its services to individuals who have been ensnared in the justice system through various reentry programs and correctional facilities, including the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center. By collaborating with organizations such as Milwaukee County Child Support and Milwaukee Fatherhood Initiative, CDLRE has been instrumental in providing driver's license services to individuals prior to their release.
WRTP | BIG STEP
Program Name: Empowerment to Employment (E2E)
Program Description: WRTP's Women Occupations In The Skilled Trades (WOITST) Program aims to facilitate family-sustaining employment opportunities with high-road employers. WRTP's infrastructure provides a myriad of tools within its portfolio to enhance its services to individuals seeking career advancement in the skilled trades industry.
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