Center for Living and Learning

“The board of directors reviews a draft of the 990 prior to filing.”

“All transactions which could give rise to a potential conflict of interests are monitored by the board of directors.”

“The board of directors conducted a review including comparability data in connection with its approval of the executive director's compensation.”

“The organization's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements (if any) are made available to the public upon request.”

“The mission of center for living and learning is to improve lives by assisting individuals transitioning from treatment, incarceration, homelessness and other disadvantaged populations to obtain employment or self sufficiency through job training, job readiness and case management services. Center for living and learning envisions a community where every vulnerable neighbor who wishes to be self-supporting is given the opportunity.”

“1.apprenticeship program: apprentices in this program carry out the daily office functions of cll, including staffing a social enterprise call center. The program serves unemployed low-income trainees and those transitioning from treatment and/or incarceration through a transitional subsidized employment training program. Services include intensive support and role modeling, individualized attention related to setting boundaries, resolving personal challenges, handling anger and stress, maintaining recovery and managing finances. Support is provided by our team of peer mentors - all of whom are former clients - who have themselves surmounted significant personal barriers to become self-sufficient. Apprentices receive transportation and clothing assistance, referrals to legal assistance for assistance with expungement of records and wage garnishment reductions, and referrals to housing and counseling services. Skills obtained include customer service, program service delivery, office, and management skills. Key outcomes of the apprenticeship program include: -60 paid apprentices were provided with up to 300 hours of paid work experience. -45 apprentices were placed into unsubsidized employment exceeding contract goals of 50% placement rates. Cll provided the above services as a funded partner this year through the la: rise program with redf and the city of los angeles economic and workforce development department to increase case management services for participants in the paid training program. A.all about you live answering service: this social enterprise call center is operated by apprentices and provides business and call center services to paying customers. Apprentices perform live call answering and virtual receptionist services to small companies, startups, individual owners, nonprofits, and downsizing companies. Apprentices are trained in customer service, data entry, microsoft office, clerical, and general office; those with high performance skills are additionally trained in management and software programming. As part of the cars4jobs car donation program, apprentices complete donor files, coordinate the pickup of donated vehicles, process title paperwork, and enter invoices upon sale of the vehicle. The cars4jobs donation program generated 4005 from vehicle donations this fiscal year in addition to 17,580 from answering service customers.”

“2.job readiness program: the program serves no/low-income individuals who experience multiple barriers to employment, including those transitioning from drug/alcohol treatment, homelessness, incarceration, and/or justice involvement. The program offers a comprehensive intake and needs assessment process and one-on-one peer mentoring services to prepare, place, and retain clients in living wage employment. Services include practice applications; resume and cover letter writing; interview techniques and follow up etiquette; proper grooming, work habits and ethics; and job retention coaching. Clients are also provided with transportation to job fairs and interviews, assistance to confront legal issues, help obtaining a california id, and assistance purchasing interview clothing and work uniforms. Fifteen computers are provided during business hours for clients to search for and apply for jobs. Cll continued to intensify its direct outreach to employers, staffing agencies and recruiters to increase positive employment outcomes. Most services are provided by our team of peer mentors. Key outcomes of the job readiness program include: cll served 325 clients with some type of employment assistance of those, 290 clients participated in structured job readiness services with 164 obtaining employment, a total of 268 were supported with funds for work/interview clothing, training/tests, work documents, transportation, rental assistance, and other items necessary to obtain and/or maintain employment. All projects met, exceeded or were on track to meet goals. Cll continued a career training program for justice-involved individuals that provided career training opportunities to 58 individuals, with 53 completing training and 42 placed exceeding contracted goals.”

“4.advocacy, education and outreach: cll engaged in community education and outreach strategies over the fiscal year, including the following: -we performed education and outreach to inform those with convictions about their right to vote and how to get information on election issues. -we provided education to partnering organizations on legislative issues that affect the populations we serve. -we provided overdose prevention training for clients and partnering agencies. -we maintained our "faces of change" campaign by participating in community events and demonstrating to the community and employers that those with convictions can change and are employable. -the executive director served as co-chair of the la regional re-entry partnership (larrp) employment committee, working to solve re-entry barriers to employment with other senior executives working in the employment and re-entry fields. -the executive director also served as chair of the san fernando employer advisory council bringing employer resources and education to sfv employers.”