A longstanding Indiana reentry program will be able to help hundreds more people through a $5 million federal grant.
Gov. Mike Braun touted over $10 million in federal grants the state has received during an event at RecycleForce in Indianapolis Wednesday.
RecycleForce is an electronic waste recycling operation that offers job training for formerly incarcerated people returning to the workforce. An arm of the nonprofit, Keys2Work, then helps place those same citizens into full-time jobs.
The organization has been doing this work for decades and recently opened a new facility on Indianapolis's near east side.
Braun said, even before the grant, the partnership had helped reduce the state's unemployment rate.
"We're now at 3.3%. That's getting into uncharted territory, and thank you for what you do to actually feed the system with new recruits,” he told a crowd Wednesday.
“As long as I'm the governor, we're going to work on the affordability, and we're going to work more on the north star of my economic development: raising wages across the board and scaling up our employees that need to come into the workforce, especially those who are looking for that second chance.”
Through the grant, the organization aims to give training and employment opportunities to nearly 700 young adults, aged 18-24.
Tiana Johnson is the Chief Operating Officer of Recycleforce. She said the grant is an important milestone.
“Second chances matter, but they only become real when they come with opportunity, with training, with work, and with jobs that pay a real wage,” she said.
Jannett Keesling is the founder of Keys2Work. She said the grant is essential to supporting their work.
“Without this money, how could we serve? We've got several people who would be coming home with no opportunities,” she said. “This is an opportunity for them to have a place to come directly referred to us, and on day one, they're earning money, they're learning skills, and they're going to have a job”
A second grant, awarded earlier this month, will expand second chance workforce training through the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
The two grants are awarded through the U.S. Department of Labor.
Contact Government Reporter Benjamin Thorp at bthorp@wfyi.org
