Streets Team Enterprises Wins $1.9 Million Employment Social Enterprise Grant
Grant Funds Will Support Program Activity in Santa Clara, Solano, and Napa Counties
July 10, 2023: Streets Team Enterprises (STE), the employment social enterprise division of Downtown Streets Team (DST), has been awarded $2 million in support of its mission of providing paid transitional employment, job training, and wrap around services to unhoused adults, individuals who have been recently incarcerated, and others in housing or rehabilitation programs.
The award was issued by the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency through the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Governor’s discretionary funds for employment social enterprises (ESEs.) The aim is to build the capacity of ESEs to provide supportive services to participants who face barriers to employment. Seven grants to California ESEs were issued this year. In total, more than $11 million was awarded for workforce development with $2 million being the maximum allowed per agency. Activity is to take place within the time frame of 19 months.
Winning this WIOA grant will enable STE to bolster its vital relationships with Solano Transit, Santa Clara County RISE, Caltrans, the Butte County Office of Education, and REDF. Grant funds will employ approximately 281 participants over the project period with the aim of graduating at least 75% of them into the mainstream workforce. At least 90% of these mainstream jobs are estimated to provide long-term, sustainable, living wage employment, thus helping these individuals achieve economic self-sufficiency and life stability.
STE will also be able to increase its capacity by hiring additional direct-service staff, namely three Case Managers and three Employment Specialists. Executive Director of STE, Gregory Nottage, explains that this award will allow “STE employees to receive the services they deserve as they re-enter the workforce. We’ve had so many success stories, and what this grant does is allow us to do what we do in an even more intentional way.”
Click here to view a full list of this year’s grant award recipients.
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About Streets Team Enterprises and Downtown Streets Team
Streets Team Enterprises is the workforce development social enterprise division of Downtown Streets Team. The mission of STE is to help individuals attain permanent employment by providing training and a transitional paying job. The program is transitional by design; the end goal is for participants to use STE as a stepping stone to self-sufficiency by eventually securing lasting employment in the workforce at large.
Downtown Streets Team (DST) is fighting homelessness through the dignity of work and the power of community. Our Streets Team Volunteers program builds Teams that restore dignity, inspire hope, and provide a pathway to recover from homelessness. Team Members are unhoused neighbors or those at risk of experiencing homelessness. They receive access to case management, system navigation, and employment placement services from trained DST Case Managers and Employment Specialists. Teams engage in community beautification and clean-up projects that help challenge common negative perceptions of homelessness. For more information about these programs, visit https://www.streetsteam.org/.