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| A life success program for young adults ages 18 to 35 |
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We get asked a lot why our Rebuild Program focuses on young adults (ages 18-35) with young children. The simple answer is that's where the best solutions can be found. A better answer requires a little more explanation.
The best available research, from all points of view, convincingly shows that breaking the cycle of poverty starts in the home. Stabilize the homes of impoverished young adults with better employment opportunities and stronger parenting skills and things begin to fall into place for the next generation. Ignore the employment, educational and childrearing needs of young adults and you can count on the cycle of poverty being repeated. Speak to any school administrator about what keeps their most impoverished students from succeeding in the classroom and you will invariably hear about the need for greater parental involvement. Then, talk to any parent who is struggling to pay the bills and you will nearly always hear how difficult it is to focus on anything else.
These tensions are reflected in the poverty studies done by America's top family-related research centers. The National Center for Children in Poverty reports that "83 percent of children whose parents have less than a high school diploma live in low-income families." The Children's Defense Fund tells us that each day in America, 18,439 public school students are suspended, 4,133 children are arrested, 3,312 high school students drop out of school, 2,058 children are confirmed as abused or neglected, and 368 children are arrested for drug offenses. These numbers are easily connected to a rise in poverty in the past decade. The Annie E. Casey Foundation states that 31 percent of American children in 2009 lived in families with no fulltime, year-round working parent. And, The Family Research Council underscores the importance of stable families by reporting that "only 5.8 percent of married families were living in poverty in 2009." Yes, the data can be a little overwhelming and there is always room for some healthy debate about cause and effect, but there's no mistaking the fact that children do better when mom and dad do better. That's what Rebuild is all about.
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| Poverty impacts everything else in a person's life |
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Rebuild works from the inside out. By focusing on a person's strengths and goals, our team is able to create a tailored Individual Life Plan (ILP) for each client that enables them to reach out to the world around them. The ILP becomes a roadmap for personal success.
Each ILP includes goals and strategies from seven critical life domains:
- Community Engagement
- Education
- Employment
- Family Stabilization
- Finances
- Health & Wellness
- Life Skills
Once an ILP is established for a client, Rebuild works to place the client in an entry-level job with an employer who values and supports the Rebuild ILP process.
Each client is assigned to a case manager and then matched with a mentor. The standard Rebuild ILP process lasts twelve months, though it is not uncommon for a client to remain in the program for more than two years.
The criteria for remaining in the program beyond twelve months are:
- Successful track record
- Strong work ethic
- Positive attitude
- Solid relationship with the employer and Open Door Baltimore
- Clear evidence of continued need and potential
Rebuild is a trademarked program of the Open Door Community Development Corporation, Baltimore, MDThe Individual Life Plan (ILP) is the copyrighted program material of the Open Door Community Development Corporation, Baltimore, MD
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