Partnership for Community Growth & Change
Constructing Hope’s GOALS are to:
WHAT WE DO
HELP people of color, unemployed people, the formerly incarcerated, and low income individuals re-enter the workforce and attain middle-class wages.
SUPPORT those with the highest unemployment rates, fewest career options, and weakest safety net.
ENGAGE young people to learn that they have the opportunities, abilities, and confidence for career and life success.
ADDRESS diversity in the workforce to produce systemic change.
OUR ROLE
- We achieve our mission by providing opportunities for self-sufficiency through a pre-apprenticeship, skills, and educational training program for people with a legal history and low income people.
- We facilitate permanent job placement for program graduates.
- We produce qualified workers with real world experience for the construction industry.
- We serve our community by engaging in community development projects.
WE VALUE
- Partnerships with citizens, public officials, community-based organizations, service providers and other allies.
- Involvement of low-income citizens and communities.
- Continual evaluation and improvement of programs and initiatives.
- High standards of accountability to participants, employers, the community and other stakeholders.
Constructing Hope — History
Irvington Covenant Church members saw firsthand the negative effects that gentrification and dwindling housing affordability had on its members, neighbors, and especially the large minority population in North/Northeast Portland. To address these concerns, church members created Irvington Covenant Community Development Corporation (ICCDC) in 1995.
The organization built and sold 11 homes in Northeast Portland, to provide low-to-middle income families with decent housing, plus provide hands-on construction experience for participants in the organization’s Constructing Hope Training Program.
As the housing industry changed, ICCDC focused on the Constructing Hope Training Program and targeted people coming from incarceration and people with a legal history, to empower them to get a clean start as productive, self-sufficient members of the community.
In 2007, the program was approved by the Bureau of Labor and Industries as a state-certified pre-apprenticeship program.
In 2010, the Constructing Hope Pre-Apprenticeship Program became an independent non-profit organization separate from ICCDC. Relationships created with numerous partners ensure that the program provides quality training that benefits.
Constructing Hope also provides case management services to help address any issues that might impact a participant’s ability to thrive in the program. Beyond that, Constructing Hope provides career placement services and employment retention support, and tracks graduates’ employment progress. Relative these activities, Constructing Hope has developed relationships with numerous partners to ensure that the program provides quality training that benefits both participants and potential employers. These partners have worked with Constructing Hope to ensure that its training meets the partners’ needs for workers who have excellent vocational skills and valuable life skills.