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January 28, 2013
Doe Fund Gets $382K Heckscher Grant for Young Men's Employment

The Doe Fund has received a one-year, $382,114 grant from The Heckscher Foundation for Children to implement an innovative young men’s employment program out of its Peter Jay Sharp Center for Opportunity.  Best known for its nationally acclaimed Ready, Willing & Able program, which provides paid work, transitional housing, career development service,s and employment training to formerly homeless and incarcerated men, The Doe Fund’s Youth Initiative will emphasize educational opportunities and enhanced employment training to assist this critical population to break the cycles of homelessness and crime.

Implementation of the program comes as an acknowledgement of the growing numbers of homeless and unemployed youth in New York City and beyond.  In 2010, more than one-third of young African-American adults in New York City were unemployed, and that number jumped to an alarming 52 percent for those without a high school diploma or equivalent. A protracted recession, increased numbers of youth aging out of foster care, and young adults reentering society from the juvenile and criminal justice systems have all contributed to an influx in the number of youth entering The Doe Fund’s residences and the city-wide homeless system overall.  By awarding The Doe Fund this grant, The Heckscher Foundation has provided a ground-floor investment in a new model of working with homeless and disenfranchised youth, with paid work at its core.

“The Doe Fund is excited to apply its 25-year record of success to assist homeless youth,” said George McDonald, Founder and President of The Doe Fund.  “The Heckscher Foundation has helped us to open the doors of achievement for a whole generation of young men — who will now have the opportunity to achieve college degrees and upwardly mobile careers — to break the cycles of homelessness and incarceration not only for themselves but for their own children.”

“We are proud to partner with The Doe Fund to see Ready, Willing & Able’s Youth Initiative extend the extraordinary work it does for New York City youth,”  said Peter Sloane, Chairman and CEO of The Heckscher Foundation for Children.  “The Doe Fund has a unique opportunity to reach young men, to help them access the mainstream economy and establish positive habits which will take them through their entire lives.   The Doe Fund grant is in keeping with our mission to level the playing field for youth in New York and elsewhere.”

Headquartered in New York City, The Doe Fund is a $50 million, multi-disciplinary human services agency that helps 1,000 people every day to better their circumstances through programs providing paid work; workforce development and job placement; transitional, supportive, and permanent housing; drug testing and counseling; and comprehensive social and educational services.

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