Cornbread Hustle

In a word, expansion. We would use Elevate Prize funds to open new offices in major cities around the United States where there is demand for second-chance employment. In other words, we hope to bring our organization to every metropolitan area in the U.S.

Funds would allow us to quickly hire the personnel we need to launch a ground operation in a new city: an administrator, an account manager, and recruiters.

Lack of financing is the only thing holding us back from nationwide expansion. We have the jobs and the ability to source more job opportunities for people returning to society after incarceration. We only need the funds to quickly get more boots on the ground and start interviewing job-seekers.

My name is Cheri, and I am an alcoholic.

I am proudly in recovery and more than two years sober from drugs and alcohol. As a high school cheerleader, I started using - and eventually dealing - methamphetamine. That led to more than a decade of excessive drinking and a drunk driving arrest.

Today, I aim to help other people in recovery from substance use and those with criminal backgrounds find jobs. I created Cornbread Hustle, a staffing agency for second chances, to fulfil this goal.

I am also an inventor, with two patents to my name. I am an entrepreneur, having started a number of business ventures. I use this experience to help men and women recently released from incarceration to identify and pursue their passions, and become independently successful.

I am a criminal justice reform advocate. I believe education and job training are essential to eliminating recidivism, reducing crime, and breaking the cycle of poverty that afflicts millions of Americans.

My goals are to help as many people as possible with a criminal record or in addiction recovery to find jobs and housing - doors that are often closed because of their past.

It's estimated as many as 1 in 3 American adults has a criminal record.

The U.S. spends about $91 billion per year on operating jails and prisons. The actual cost to society is staggeringly higher: more than $1 trillion per year, or about 6% of GDP. (Source: Florida State University)

The costs include recidivism, higher crime, generational poverty, and lost wages. Formerly-incarcerated people face permanent reductions in their lifetime earning opportunities, because few employers are willing to hire them. Their lack of employment frequently leads back to crime / drug use, repeat incarceration, and homelessness. Their children are less likely to succeed academically, and more likely to commit crime themselves.

We can break the cycle. Cornbread Hustle connects formerly-incarcerated people with meaningful employment. We do this by identifying employers with a need for labor; setting up a second-chance hiring program; and providing qualified candidates to fill jobs. These jobs lead to full-time employment, increased wages, benefits, promotion, and career training.

We also provide our second-chance staffers ("Hustlers") with free workshops to help them succeed in work and life.

As we continue to grow, we can help many more formerly-incarcerated people nationwide find work, benefiting families, communities, and the economy.

Employers have traditionally been hesitant to hire anyone with a criminal record. We act as a bridge between employers and workers with a criminal background.

First, we meet with employers to create a second-chance-friendly hiring plan. We discuss their concerns, and determine their needs.

Once an agreement is in place, we advertise the jobs, and our team of recruiters screens candidates. All our recruiters either served time in prison or are in recovery from addiction (frequently both). This gives them a shared perspective with candidates and helps them "speak the language" of the formerly-incarcerated.

We handle payroll and liability / injury insurance for all hires.

Our screening process includes background checks to ensure candidates are being honest about their criminal record; drug testing to ensure sobriety; and in-person, face-to-face interviews to make sure they're the right fit.

Even if a job doesn't work out for the candidate at first, we can always help place them with a different employer.

Our support for candidates continues after their hire date. We offer addiction / substance use recovery groups; ongoing professional development workshops; and, when possible, housing placement assistance.

When our candidates succeed, our employer clients succeed - and we succeed!

With perhaps a third of American adults having a criminal record, there are potentially millions of people for whom lifetime earnings are severely reduced, because they either cannot find jobs or must settle for lower-wage work.

By creating and growing our second-chance staffing agency, we are giving these individuals a chance to beat the odds.

Employment is essential to avoiding the crushing poverty that afflicts some 40 million Americans. It seems like an obvious statement, but the fact is obstacles like an arrest record can leave many able-bodied adults locked out of the workforce.

Helping these individuals find work starts them on the path to greater economic independence, and makes it much more likely their children will graduate high school, go to college, and become contributing members of society themselves.