Home Preservation Jobs Program
As a non-profit organization, Discoveries of Hope Foundation (DoH) is dedicated to providing resources and assistance to the communities we serve. To foster healthy neighborhoods and communities, we continuously look for ways to improve our organizational performance and its ability to address critical issues to better assist underserved populations as well as the long term unemployed.
One area that has greatly impacted our communities is the alarming rate at which people are losing their jobs resulting in foreclosures, bankruptcies, an even homelessness.
The Ripple Effect of Unemployment
Joblessness is not just about losing your paycheck or your benefits. Many people experience both psychological and physiological effects such as increased stress, depression, hopelessness, a loss of self-esteem and confidence. Ultimately, one’s inability to earn an income affects our culture, economy, communities and family bounds.
Too many foreclosures or bank-owned homes present several issues, particularly one of maintenance. With no one living in the home while it waits for a new owner, the property gets dirty, weeds grow and petty vandalism and crime can occur. This in turn brings down the appearance and safety of the neighborhood thus discouraging potential home buyers from purchasing in that community.
The current inventory of properties has created a unique set of opportunities that require maintenance of homes for home preservation. The habitability of these dwellings creates viable neighborhood living standards, community beautification, and future homeownership.
“Jobs and Home Ownership, You can’t have one without the other.”
NAR also sites some supportive statistics:
- Home sales in the U.S. generated more than 2.5 million private-sector jobs in an average year
- For every two homes sold, a job is created
- Each home sale touches 80 different occupations
- Every home purchased pumps up to $60,000 into the economy
Rebuild America
The mission of DoH Home Preservation Jobs Program (HPJP) is closely aligned with the “Rebuild America” objectives set forth by the “America Jobs Act”. Our strategies and solutions are designed to preserve homes and focus on distressed asset rehabilitation, while also providing economic and community growth through job creation. One of most innovative components of this Act is a new “Project Rebuild”, which is pushing its way through Congress, and will put people to work rehabilitating homes, businesses and communities. This will be leveraged by private capital and other public-private collaborations (as well as federal funding) to help strengthen the economy.
Project Rebuild will create nearly 200,000 jobs, and at the same time stabilizing home prices in neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures. Already, existing neighborhood stabilization efforts enacted by Congress over the last three years since the housing crisis began has created nearly 100,000 jobs and addressed nearly 45,000 vacant and abandoned properties.
Community Partnerships
HPJP together with collaborative partnerships is dedicated to those that are either unemployed or looking to gain valuable marketable trade skills. Getting America back to work will help individuals feel a sense of accomplishment, pride and self-worth, while maintaining the preservation of housing inventories are essential.
As these corporate alliances are formed, we are better equipped to provide quality home preservation care, sustainable employment, as well as the acquisition of properties with a goal of assisting low income and first-time home buyers with opportunities to purchase properties in revitalization areas.
DoH Home Preservation Jobs Program (HPJP)
Our team of volunteer professionals are dedicated to managing the clean-up, maintenance and repair of home repossessions, real properties, rental properties and bank foreclosed properties. DoH works with HUD, banks, property preservation companies, asset management and REO property management companies. In our effort to ensure timely clean-ups, repairs and maintenance of these properties, we often utilize qualified home repair, construction and restoration specialists. Since the need for these services has grown exponentially in recent years, we began to hire those who are unemployed for various assignments and projects.
Purpose of the Program
Recent reports show that more than 14 million Americans are out of work. In many cases, those who are unemployed are available for work, but are not able to secure a job. The numbers are even more staggering when you consider those who are classified as at-risk youth, veterans and disabled.
The primary purpose of the program is two-fold: one to assist with the maintenance and repair of foreclosed homes and secondly to provide vocational training and rehabilitation programs that result in employment opportunities for four (4) specific groups;
1) Returning veterans who are unemployed after active duty service;
2) Unemployed high school graduates in disenfranchised revitalization areas;
3) Mainstream long term unemployed workers;
4) Americans/Veterans with disabilities
Through on-the-job training, workers acquire both general skills that they can transfer from one job to another and specific skills that are unique to a particular job. With an updated skill set, people increase their marketability and even transition into other careers.
Our ultimate goal is to provide for the re-gentrification of neighborhoods, community infrastructure support, and job skills certification producing skilled labors.
Our Team
This program is a collaborative effort between our nonprofit jobs management programs team and participating program sponsors with the same goals and objectives. We have assembled a team of professionals who have an unparalleled reputation for service, quality, professionalism, and customer satisfaction.The program also offers opportunities for participants to obtain certification in applicable disciplines in which they work such as general maintenance, plumbing, electrical, masonry, HVAC and carpentry, as well as OHSA certifications, and inspection procedures.
Program Overview
The focus of HPJP is to provide viable job training and employment opportunities to those who are unemployed. We offer a one-stop resource center for job seekers searching for employment in the home construction and property preservation industries.
The HPJP has a simple, but targeted mission: to get people back to work by creating job training that assist unemployed workers in further developing their skills through hands-on experiences with licensed contractors and professionals. All program participants work under a volunteer or unemployed journeymen, which train individuals in their respective interest areas throughout their certification, and/or retraining process.
General Services Provided
Our services are as followings, but not limited to: property inspections and reporting, sub-contracting bid services and repairs, removal of debris, appliances, vehicles, hazardous materials and personal property, re-keying, board-ups, janitorial and maid services, carpet cleaning, maintenance services, lawn and garden services as well as above mentioned skilled training opportunities.
Benefits of On-the-Job Training
Learning takes place in various ways; verbal and written instruction, demonstration and observation, and hands-on practice and replication. Real-world work situations help develop good communication skills, the ability to work individually or as a team, time-management skills, the ability to improvise and adapt to changing environments, as well as to work with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures.
Beyond simply imparting skills, we ensure individuals learn to utilize critical thinking skills, develop leadership skills, responsibility, self-confidence, planning, organizing, sound judgment, problem solving skills and conflict resolution.
Within the context of assignments individuals are placed in a variety of challenging situations with problems to assess and decisions to make under various conditions. These situations (1) motivate individuals to learn, (2) provide opportunities to gain new ideas, knowledge and practice skills, as well as (3) encourage new insights through reflection on prior experiences to ensue personal growth.
What’s In It for You the Sponsor?
Corporate Responsibility
According to Cone (a communication public relations firm), corporate responsibility is more than compliance and strategic philanthropy. Today, it's about having a vision, establishing goals, living up to commitments and communicating transparently. This philosophy, we believe, when integrated into daily business practices is a reflection of a company’s culture, values, and social impact which represents who they are and the way they do business.
Our Approach
At DoH, our approach is to garner increasing corporate responsibility and interest; also called Creating Shared Value, or CSV. The shared value model is based on the idea that corporate success and social welfare are interdependent. A business needs a healthy, educated workforce, sustainable resources and adept governance to compete effectively. For society to thrive, profitable and competitive businesses must be developed and supported to create income, wealth, tax revenues, job opportunities for philanthropy and goodwill to thrive.
Sponsorship Benefits
Being a sponsor of a non-profit program to rebuild America, our collaborative partners will be able to take advantage of tax credits without taking on the increased labor cost to facilitate these opportunities. As a sponsor you will be part of a program which serves as the catalysis for community jobs and rebuilding America.These services are offered to various agencies as well as corporations, and are subsidized by contract services, grant programs, EB-5 investment opportunities or donations from the private sector in an effort to “Rebuild America and get Americans Back to Work”.
The Presidential program which seeks to put workers back on the job while rebuilding and modernizing America while providing the pathways for Americans Looking for work, provides for the following incentives and benefits;
- A “Returning Heroes” hiring tax credit for veterans: This provides tax credits from $5,600 to $9,600 to encourage the hiring of unemployed veterans.
- “Project Rebuild”, which will put people to work rehabilitating homes, businesses and communities, leveraging private capital and scaling land banks and other public-private collaborations.
- Immediate investments in infrastructure and a bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank, modernizing our roads, railways, airports and waterways while putting hundreds of thousands of workers back on the job.
- A $4,000 tax credit to employers for hiring long-term unemployed workers.
- Expanding job opportunities for low-income youth and adults through a fund for successful approaches for subsidized employment, innovative training programs and summer/year-round jobs for youth.
- Project Rebuild: Putting people back to work rehabilitating homes, businesses and communities.
Presidential America Jobs Act
What’s in it?
The President is proposing to invest $15 billion in a national effort to put construction workers on the job rehabilitating and refurbishing hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes and businesses. The bill has both Republican and Democratic support, and is currently on the house floor.
Building on proven approaches to stabilizing neighborhoods with high concentrations of foreclosures, Project Rebuild will bring in expertise and capital from the private sector, focus on commercial and residential property improvements, and expand innovative property solutions like land banks. This approach will not only create construction jobs but will help reduce blight, crime and stabilize housing prices in areas hardest hit by the housing crisis.
“You are not only a Community Program Sponsor; We are also your Cause marketing partner”
What’s in it for the unemployed?
The vitality of our economy depends on everyone taking a role in contributing to the rebuilding of healthy communities. By facilitating the training of new skill sets in the housing construction and home preservation industries, we assist others in securing more sustainable employment opportunities.At Discoveries of Hope, through the HPJP program our goal is to re-engage those who seek to hone their skills and acquire marketable attributes in construction technologies through the rehabilitation or construction of affordable housing. Home renovation and restoration will provide employment opportunities and housing in an effort to help break the poverty cycle for families. The result is a better educated, more engaged, workforce.
Program Benefits
Individuals gain their experiences in a supportive environment with experienced professionals who serve as positive role models providing constructive support and counsel for continued improvement and professional growth and development. All program members work under journeymen that will train individuals throughout their training and/or retraining process.
- OJT for individuals seeking to improve their job skills and employment outlook
- Accredited state and federal recognized certifications training
- Stipend pay while learning new skills for long term employment
- Growth opportunities for long term employment
- Job preparation and placement assistance
- No cost training (minimum hours requirement for certifications)
- Certification in home construction fields under state licensed journeyman instruction (minimum hours requirement for certifications)
The program also offers opportunities for program members to obtain certifications in various industies (i.e. HVAC, Plumbing, Electrical, Masonry, Carpentry, OHSA Certifications, and General Building Maintenance and Inspection procedures.
“An opportunity starts with a chance and everyone deserves one”
