| OFS has helped close to 7,000 young adults, while at the same time increasing the supply of entry-level workers and affordable housing in the Capital Region. You have an opportunity to do the same, one that requires very little effort.
Rose is a typical participant in OFS. She spent time in corrections for three assault and battery charges. A high school dropout, her future prospects were bleak. She now holds down both an OFS position and one other job, lives in her own apartment, will soon secure a High School Equivalency Degree (HSED), and is an articulate, aspiring veterinarian lab technician.
OFS builds job skills and employment readiness by employing these young adults to address an important community issue - lack of affordable housing. Each year, OFS crews build eight to 10 affordable homes, each sold with very attractive financing, performing all work except plumbing, electrical and HVAC. Home sales, competitive grants and fee-for-service are its primary revenue streams.
In addition to a paid construction job, students gain access to an on-site health-care clinic, two meals a day and help in completing their high school degree or HSED.
EDUCATION AND WORK
Bill, a survivor of multiple foster homes, welcomes OFS's small classroom learning under state-certified teachers. "I was so far behind in school," he shares, "I'd never have caught up without OFS." Bill benefits from having classroom lessons and job site activities aligned, creating experiential learning and motivation to study.
OFS's results are impressive. Over 38 years, 80 percent of its participants have completed the goals of the program (job placement and/or entry into post-secondary school). Ten years after their OFS graduation, two-thirds of these young people hold self-supporting employment or are in post-secondary education, do not require further public assistance, and have no further criminal justice issues. Furthermore, the one-year recidivism rate for students who joined while under supervision for juvenile or adult offenses on probation or parole - a significant percent of OFS's enrollment - is just 15 percent on average, a stark contrast to the 57 percent recidivism rate of the overall 18+ population coming out of corrections.
Every OFS activity is outcome focused, in an environment mirroring the outside world's expectations. Equally important to gaining education and job skills, students build positive relationships on the job site. Their supervisor often becomes the trustworthy adult mentors most students never had.
Rose reflects, "The supervisor and crew become family, people who really care about you and who share your goals." And the larger community of students, supervisors and teachers collectively celebrate every stage of every student's success, reinforcing positive behavior change.
Like Rose, Tyrone, only 16, fell into the wrong crowd in high school. Without a work-learn environment, he would have dropped out. He is succeeding with the help of older members of his crew who have explained the dangers of the wrong crowd. They're encouraging Tyrone to complete his high school degree.
Today, the gregarious teen hopes to attend Madison Area Technical College (MATC) to become a game designer with a scholarship he'll earn from AmeriCorps through his work and service building affordable OFS homes. (AmeriCorps is a federal program like Peace Corps , but focused domestically.) Because of this scholarship, Tyrone's dreams are possible.
ENTRY-LEVEL WORKERS
"Our county lacks a sufficient number of entry-level workers like Tyrone for jobs not requiring a four-year college degree," says Jonathan Barry, the former Dane County executive. He first came to OFS six years ago to volunteer but is now a part-time OFS staff member. Such jobs require at least a ninth-grade equivalency in reading and math and the ability to take direction, work in a team, and adapt to challenges and conditions.
Another OFS student, Bob, has twice been imprisoned but has now completed his HSED and plans to enter an advanced manufacturing program at MATC. He says OFS crews build houses as if they're going to live in it themselves.
"We pay attention to every detail," Bob says. "We feel so great leaving the site at night. Who thought teens could build a home from scratch?" OFS Executive Director Connie Ferris Bailey says the time frame of construction work and the pride it instills are essential to the program's success.
"As the house goes up and is done right, students' confidence grows and their beliefs about themselves change," Baily says. In addition, she points out, the oftentimes monotonous work (such as six hours of drywall sanding with many repairs) can highlight behaviors (like anger explosions) that created workplace problems for students in the past. Supervisors use these episodes to teach effective coping behaviors needed in the outside world.
Each student has a story like that of Rose, Tyrone, Bill, and Bob, with poverty, abuse, drug or alcohol addiction and other barriers often part of the storyline. Their student-published Program Handbook's first line gives voice to students' shared goal, "Operation Fresh Start is about personal change."
Take Tommy, a former drug dealer and high school dropout, who finally accepted responsibility for his behavior. "Admitting I had screwed up was the hardest thing I'd ever done," he says. "But I needed to earn honest money and get ready to land a good job to care for my son."
Tommy, like all other students, had accepted OFS's requirement that job-site supervisors can "get in your face" for inappropriate job-site behavior. One had fired Tommy, along with the entire crew, for not taking work seriously. As ringleader, Tommy alone was not rehired for the next week's work. The site supervisor's willingness to set boundaries, create consequences, yet then give a repentant Tommy a second chance worked. He will graduate soon and enter a carpentry apprenticeship.
An applicant pool of 900 far outstrips OFS's 110-120 annual slots. The excess demand reflects a significant community challenge: a rapidly growing number of Madison metro-area "disconnected" youth.
TOO MANY NOT IN SCHOOL
Some 4,000 young persons aged 16-24 in the Madison metropolitan area today are not in school, not holding or seriously looking for a job, and lack even the basic skills needed to get and keep a self-supporting job, according to experts from MATC, the Workforce Development Board, and UW-Madison.
Expansion of OFS could transform this problem into a labor force opportunity. The slow housing market makes expansion difficult however. This is where you, the reader, can make a difference. Encourage your low- to moderate-income house-hunting employees, church members and others to explore purchasing OFS's attractive and affordable housing. By helping OFS, you'll help our community and enable one more courageous kid dealt a challenging hand to thrive.
With a smile that could melt this winter's 100-plus inches of snow, Tyrone shared, "I'm getting a fresh start to a great life, one I'd never have imagined for myself."
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