Back 2 Work Newsletter

We are very excited to announce the return of our quarterly Back 2 Work newsletter to highlight the great stuff happening within our program.

Back 2 Work provides transitional employment services for underserved and disadvantaged adults. We provide temporary paid employment as well as support services to help stabilize people as they begin working. Our program has multiple satellite locations throughout the state of California. We also partner with multiple agencies to provide people in need with the wrap-around services, tools, and opportunities to succeed in life.

We serve some of the most marginalized communities, including people experiencing homeless, those in transitional housing or living with relatives or friends, veterans that struggle with PTSD and substance abuse, and formerly incarcerated adults. Our goal is to provide services to help them heal, help the community heal, and transition them into stable employment and a career path.

We are dedicated to creating systemic change to unleash workforce opportunities for all. We partner with agencies throughout the state to create transitional employment opportunities for individuals seeking to return to the workforce.

Through our partnerships, we serve some of the most marginalized communities in California. We provide supportive services to help them overcome barriers. This newsletter will showcase the life-changing work our team does. Thank you for joining us on our journey, be sure to subscribe for more updates and highlights.

-Keith Lane, Senior Director of Back 2 Work

Back 2 Work held its very first conference welcoming representatives for our subcontractors to partake in learning and connecting with each other. With a thank you to REDF for helping us put on this great event, we were able to provide learning opportunities for our collaborators. This was an important step for us to take as an organization because of our expansion just in the past few years. Growing our partnerships and our work across the state of California. This conference was an important opportunity to celebrate our collaborative work and thank our subcontractors for joining forces with us.

We welcomed special guests Sarah and Victor from Experience Institute to present workshops on managing your energy, problem-solving, and connecting with each other.

Director of Caltrans Tony Tavares gave a speech about the Clean California Initiative and supporting each other’s programs.

“I want to see people continue to move up in society and thrive economically as well. Going forward, we must continue to ask how do we continue to grow this program, how do we continue to help people. People experiencing homelessness, people that have been impacted by the justice system. How do we continue to help these people and give them that second chance?”

Former participant Kyle Washington spoke about his trials and experience through the program.

“Back 2 Work helped me get back on my feet quickly. Gave me marketable skills that I could use to earn a living. And not just living paycheck to paycheck but feeling economically empowered. That in turn allows me to uplift my community. That’s what this program means to me.”

Current participant Robert Kelso spoke about his current lived experience working in the program and his road to how he got there.

“I’ve been with Caltrans now a little over three years. I’m now eligible to be a lead worker. And I just did two interviews, and I’m on the brink of being hired as a lead worker. That came from Butte County Office of Education’s Back 2 Work Program.

Back 2 Work partners with 20 organizations to help adults with paid transitional employment. Our largest effort is our involvement in the Clean California Initiative, which lends our participants to clean litter along roadways.

We hope to continue to expand and grow while serving the people of California. We are looking forward to holding more conferences such as this one and creating positive change.

In celebration of its Clean California Initiative, Caltrans hosted Clean California Community Days across the state. The initiative focuses on road and neighborhood restoration. Our crews work within the Clean California Initiative to clean litter and debris along highways in the state. Back 2 Works took part in the Clean California Community Days in attendance of events on Saturday, March 25th. Our team took to cities across California to promote the great work being done within our program. Our team brought awareness to our program by talking with passersby and handing out some swag. Some of our crews attended clean up events to restore neighborhoods and give back to our communities.

Back 2 Work partnered with TEAMSTER to bring a free Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) 40-hr Training to members of Center for Employment Opportunities in San Diego. The majority of students enrolled are Back 2 Work participants.

This training helps our crew members learn how to respond when in contact with hazardous materials. Our crews work high-risk jobs being out on exposed highways and it is important to our program that our crew members are the safest they can be.

April is Second Chance Month and an opportunity Back 2 Work to promote some of it’s best work. Our program began as an effort to reduce recidivism in California. We want to emphasize the work we do to serve some of the most marginalized communities. It is important to us that we provide opportunities to get second chances for the individuals that use our services. By providing second chance opportunities to formerly incarcerated adults, Back 2 Work aims to serve communities and uplift those in need of a new start.

Back 2 Work will be attending several events to add to the conversation about second chances and the importance of social enterprises.

April is also Distracted Driving Awareness Month and the safety of our road crews is our number one priority. Our crews take specific measures to stay safe out on the road. It is important that we raise awareness of the danger of distracted driving and increase our crews’ chances of successfully completing their work.

Theresa Lester began her first day working for Five Keys Schools and Programs for Back 2 Work’s Clean California Initiative. During an onboarding workshop with Five Keys, she worked through the necessary steps to get started with the program. She headed off to work at the end of January and is now a part of the effort to keep California clean.

While celebrating her success, Theresa still looks back on her life and what she has overcome. She was homeless on and off for eight years, suffered from a drug addiction, and spent time in prison. Years ago she lost custody of her children and since then her two sons have lost their lives.

“My hardest challenge is to prove myself to my daughter, who is my only child left on this earth,” Theresa said. “Even if I made some bad choices and decisions in the midst of trying to secure and protect my children. I want to keep trying so I can win my daughter’s heart again.”

She said she also has grandchildren she wishes to hold for the first time. Theresa is full of love and an ethic to be reunited with her family. She is also recently engaged to a loving partner and they have promised each other they will marry soon.

Theresa says she leans heavily on her faith to help her through the hard times. She is a member of the Voices of Our City choir and has built a community with the members of her church. She also cites her friends to have her back when there’s times of hardship.

“I also want to include Alpha Project and Rachael's House for supporting me through rough edges and helping me build up my self esteem and encouraging me to keep fighting and never give up on myself,” She said.

Her goals are to continue building her life up, supporting her community and starting organizations to help the people of her area.

Theresa’s story shows the need for perseverance and determination, the importance of family and community, and how love endures all.

Back 2 Work would like to thank Caltrans and Five Keys Schools and Programs for their partnerships and helping create positive change in communities across California.

Mark Hope is a L.A. native who got involved in street life at a pretty young age. After years of incarceration, he was released in 2021. This June will be his two-year anniversary of being released.

Mark started as a Chrysalis client, participating in the Back 2 Work Roads program. He is now a Roads Operation Supervisor and says he is very grateful for his job.

“I get to wake up every morning with pride and joy that I get to come to work and have a positive effect on someone else's life." Hope said.

He talked about how hard it was and still is to adapt to a professional environment after being incarcerated for so long. However, he has not let his past mistakes define him. He credits his faith and the program for his second chance after all his hardships, so he has now decided to learn from his mistakes.

His favorite part of the day is when he gets to talk with his crew members before they head off to the work sites and give them a push of encouragement because he at one point knew how they were feeling. He tells them to keep pushing even when it gets rough. His biggest piece of advice he could give to the world is,

"It is never too late to find yourself. When you don't know yourself, you'll never know what to look for or what you want out of life."

If you would like to see your organization's news highlighted right here in our newsletter, contact our Communications Specialist, Sarah Strang, at sstrang@bcoe.org.

Butte County Office of Education Back 2 Work

Email: sstrang@bcoe.org
Location: 2015 J Street, Sacramento, CA, USA
Phone: 9169490068
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bcoeback2work/
Twitter: @bcoeb2w