Workforce Development
Chapman Partnership’s workforce development programs include pre-employment orientation, paid internships, and apprenticeships leading to living wage jobs in high demand industries in South Florida. Employment Specialists are responsible for developing an inventory of employers throughout Miami-Dade County willing to hire our residents, and connecting them with jobs. Relationships have been prospected with hundreds of businesses that annually facilitate the acquisition of employment for more than 1,200 Chapman Partnership clients. Employment services are a component of our holistic approach to successfully placing residents in sustainable, permanent housing.
Recognizing that no single employment strategy works for all jobseekers, Employment Specialists help residents with pre-employment skills training through Empower You, a formalized workforce orientation and job readiness training program focused on soft skills – behaviors and attitudes that demonstrate reliability, motivation, and ability to be a team player. Empower You includes the following core components:
- Teamwork (Initiative & Motivation, Expectations & Dependability, Time Management),
- Conflict Resolution (Conflict Management Styles, Critical Thinking, Trouble-shooting),
- First Impressions (Building a Positive Brand Identity, Communication Styles, Etiquette), and
- Interviewing (Active Listening, Cover Letters and Resumes, Mock Interviewing).
In addition, Chapman Partnership Employment Specialists facilitate the missing elements in the job search including interview clothing, bus passes, and tools and certification fees. These services are made possible with help from local partners and volunteers. For working families with children, Head Start daycare for ages birth to 5 and after afterschool and summer programming for ages 5 to 17 are provided at both Homeless Assistance Centers
Chapman Partnership is committed to continually evolving workforce programming to meet the emergent needs of our residents. Collectively, our services help to reduce poverty, expand economic opportunities, and build community assets that contribute to a healthy and vibrant Miami-Dade County.
Chapman Partnership understands that soft skills and workforce development are crucial components to help our residents achieve self-sufficiency. With the ultimate goal being education, employment and empowerment, today we are fostering innovation through our Social Enterprise Academy (SEA), incorporating comprehensive, age-appropriate wrap-around strategies within workforce orientation and job skills training serving residents ages 5 to 55.
Programs for early childhood and youth development focus on key life skills that empower homeless children to break familial precedent, by focusing on education, healthy habits and soft-skills job training as the primary drivers to future success. Age-specific components include:
- $tarting Early for grades K-8 offers a strong foundation in financial literacy and healthy spending habits, combined with social-emotional learning delivered within our Family Resource Center’s (FRC) afterschool and summer programming.
- Through FRC afterschool and summer participation, students in grades K-12 become familiar with innovative technology to combat the digital divide.
- The Young Adult Career Academy provides access to paid internships for adolescents and young adults ages 14 to 24, combining soft and hard job skills training, through Empower Youth, in employment sectors specific to Chapman Partnership.
The Workforce Trades Program is a post-secondary alternative to college that offers free, intensive training in sustainable trades relevant to the South Florida economy.
- Upon completion, participants receive nationally recognized certifications and are eligible for living wage salaries through direct employment opportunities.
- The inaugural cohort launched in January 2020. This was a joint-venture with Florida International University’s Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability offering a 14-week certification in Construction/Carpentry.
Chapman Partnership is expecting to launch an entrepreneurship program in the near future. This nine-month interactive course will focus on maturing participants’ ideas into viable products and/or services while developing valuable business acumen.
At Chapman Partnership, we are committed to giving our residents tangible tools and skills that equip them to become thriving members of our community through a vocational profile.