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Sign-ups for A New Life end Friday, Jan. 20. The two-day career prep and job fair is Jan. 26-27 at Eastgate Town Center. Career prep attendance is required to participate in the job fair. Lunch will be provided. Those interested can call 643-6702 to learn more or sign up.
For the more than 2.3 million inmates nationwide – 57,000 of whom are in Tennessee – finding employment upon release is no simple feat.
According to a recent survey by the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, 76 percent of former inmates reported it was difficult or impossible, and nearly two-thirds of those polled were still unemployed or underemployed five years after release.
A new pilot initiative by the Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs, Tennessee Department of Labor and nonprofit Father to the Fatherless is aiming to change that. A New Life, a two-day event featuring a training day and a job fair, will connect former felons with area businesses.
The unemployment problem is multifaceted, said Multicultural Office Community Outreach Specialist Deborah Maddox.