With extra federal stimulus funds available, Tennessee is exploring new approaches to try to break the cycle of poverty, and two Chattanooga initiatives are each vying for potential $25 million grants to help create easier paths for hundreds of Chattanooga families.
The city worked with 11 different local nonprofits, agencies and colleges to put together a targeted job skills training program for high-demand, higher-paying jobs known as the Pathways to Opportunity. The program is part of Mayor Tim Kelly's One Chattanooga approach, and organizers believe it could take more than 1,100 people out of poverty over the next three years while helping to supply needed talent for many of the city's growth industries.
Meanwhile, First Things First has developed another grant proposal to create a digital platform known as the Thread to help low-income people use their smartphones to more easily connect and communicate with social services and support agencies and personnel seen as key to helping resolve problems or needs that often create economic problems. Organizers envision helping 5,200 adults and 11,250 children in Hamilton, Bradley and Rhea counties over the three-year life of the grant, if the state selects the project for funding.
The proposals from the city of Chattanooga and First Things First are among 17 applications that the state is now considering after giving each group initial planning grants to pursue. From among those 17, which were chosen from 81 initial project applications by the Families First Community Advisory Board, seven projects will be picked across Tennessee to each receive $25 million of surplus welfare funds to pursue the new initiatives.
A decision on which of the pilot projects will be chosen is expected in early May. The contracts will start in November using leftover funds the state received under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families welfare program.
"Nothing of this scale has happened in Chattanooga before, and we believe we can change people's lives along the way," Jermaine Freeman, senior policy adviser to Kelly, told a state panel reviewing the proposals earlier this month.
Developing job skills
The city proposal would offer participants a stipend, transportation help and child care assistance while they train for skilled, in-demand jobs, such as the Google IT training already underway as part of the Empact program at the city's Youth and Family Department office on the Westside. Freeman, who works on economic development for Chattanooga, said the tight labor market demands that communities develop job-ready skills for all potential workers.
"Chattanooga will never reach its full potential until all of its residents have an opportunity to fully participate in our local economy," he said. "Talent can be developed and skills can be taught, and until our communities are willing to invest in all of our residents, including our most low-income families, we will continue to suffer a deficit in talent. The war for talent is the final frontier in the battle for economic development."
The program targets training and preparation for jobs in five key growth industries - information technology, advanced manufacturing, early childhood education, logistics and health care with a focus on nursing.
Brittany Paone, vice president of human resources at Steam Logistics, told the state panel that industry leaders have helped developed a 10-week program with local colleges on learning logistics.
"We are interested in hiring talented people who are ready to contribute, and we feel that this program will have the opportunity to add that component," she said, noting that Steam Logistics has hired 500 workers in the past year and plans to hire another 400 in the next five years.
During a presentation to state officials, Chattanooga's program picked up accolades from Tennessee Labor Commissioner Jeff McCord.
"What you describe in Chattanooga is exactly what we have as a state strategy," McCord said. "We don't have enough people, so there is a huge opportunity to build pipelines to non-traditional areas that we don't have right now."
Donna McConnico, CEO of Signal Centers, who has worked with low-income families for over 30 years, said linking the support of social service agencies with in-demand job training "is going to be a game-changer for many families" by providing well-paying jobs to lift more people out of poverty.
"This opportunity to build intensive case management, aligned with private sector employers and post-secondary education as well as the city of Chattanooga, has the potential and will bring families out of the cycle of poverty," McConnico said. "Oftentimes, social services operate in silos or they don't cross over to employment. The one thing we know is that the only sure way out of poverty is employment."
First Things First
First Things First also has assembled a number of local agencies to offer support and help with education, transportation, child care and family support to help those living in poverty deal with a host of economic and social challenges.
There are over 2,400 nonprofits in the Chattanooga region offering a host of assistance to local residents. But connecting to those services is often not easy.
First Things First began creating the Thread during the pandemic when in-person events were not possible to use digital and telephone connections to reach and serve people quickly. Even among those living in poverty, 97% still have a phone and can send and receive information in a digital platform, officials said.
First Things First has assembled 13 local groups for the digitally based program.
Lauren Hall, president and CEO of First Things First, said the Thread was developed as an interactive system for the family or individual to see what is available for them, to be able to speak directly with representatives in various organizations and to set appointments and reminders. Each individual also will be assigned a community guide to help direct their journey.
"When COVID hit, everyone had to pivot their services, and we were super nervous about what that was going to mean for families in poverty," Hall said in a telephone interview. "We found out it was actually easier for low-income families to access our services and many other services in our collaborative. They didn't have to worry about transportation to an office; they didn't have to worry about their job schedule, and they didn't have to worry about child care. We were flexible with their schedules and could be with them in an instant to work with them."
Mitchell Qualls, vice president of operations for First Things First, said the collaborative will provide a community guide to help participants navigate assistance available in the area.
"We'll assist them in growing their capacity so they can thread their way through obstacles and challenges that they are going to face while they are overcoming poverty," Qualls told state officials earlier this month.
The program has set a goal of reducing poverty in the selected group by 30% by cutting unemployment and increasing marriage.
'Transformation' grants
The law that will fund the pilot projects was adopted by the legislature last year to try new approaches to self-sufficiency for those now depending on federal welfare payments.
State Sen. Bo Watson, R-Chattanooga, and Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, pushed for putting part of the unused welfare funds into seven pilot projects across the state. One will be a statewide program administered by the state Department of Human Services. There are also six regional pilot projects - two in each of the state's three grand divisions.
The pilots are aimed at blazing new pathways for families to find ways out of poverty.
"This is truly what I believe to be transformational," Watson said last year in a legislative debate on the measure.
Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or at 423-757-6340. Follow him on Twitter @dflessner1.