Ozone Park cleanup initiative kicks off
State Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Woodhaven) and Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Ozone Park) met with the Center for Employment Opportunities last week to participate in its community cleanup initiative.
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In the News
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NY would pay ex-inmates $2,550 after prison under bill to aid transition, curb recidivism
New York could give former inmates up to $2,550 after they leave prison under a pending bill meant to help them pay for food and rent while they seek jobs and stability. Advocacy groups backing the bill plan to rally at the Capitol in Albany on Monday to push for ...
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A New Way to Help New Yorkers Adjust to Life After Prison
Under a newly proposed bill by a former incarcerated state lawmaker, New Yorkers released from prison could receive $2,500 in direct cash payments over a year, if it becomes law.
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CM Joann Ariola leads effort to keep streets in southeast Queens clean
Council Member Joann Ariola aims to keep the streets clean in her southeast Queens district with the help of city agencies and an employment program looking to improve the area.
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Center for Employment Opportunities opens their doors for formerly incarcerated people
She says she continued to pay for her crime after she was released - that is until a parole officer told her about the Center for Employment Opportunities, or CEO.
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“I can see myself doing this for the rest of my life.” Finding a calling after incarceration
Michael Holder credits the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) with helping him find his professional calling and achieve job security. CEO provides employment services including community support, job-readiness training, and job placement and retention assistance—to individuals recently released from incarceration.
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Episode 142: Dr. Genevieve Rimer and Samra Haider - Center for Employment Opportunities
Joshua B. Hoe talks to Dr. Genevieve Rimer and Samra Haider about CEO's commitment to reimagining America's criminal justice system. Listen Now!
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Donations to the Center for Employment Opportunities Support People Returning from Prison
Everyone has the potential to build a brighter future for themselves, their families, and their communities. Card rewards and other donations help the Center for Employment Opportunities give more people that chance.
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The Unemployment Gap Between Black and White New Yorkers Is Widening
The gulf between Black and white unemployment rates in New York City is now the widest it has been this century, exceeding even the largest gap during the Great Recession, according to a new report.
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Opinion: Background checks and blanket hiring exclusions don’t reduce risk – they limit opportunities
Hiring restrictions, including background checks, prevent qualified job applicants from securing employment. For a work-obsessed nation in the midst of a labor shortage, we still go to great lengths to prevent people with past criminal convictions who want to work from accessing a job.
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Activists vow to protect bail reform and close Rikers Island at Manhattan rally
On the last day of Black History Month, around 40 protestors gathered outside Governor Kathy Hochul’s Manhattan office, demanding the governor lay off her proposed bail reform rollback. Simultaneously, they also called for the permanent closure of Rikers Island.
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Inclusive hiring: New LinkedIn partnership helps job seekers with criminal backgrounds
Genevieve Rimer's journey from incarceration to becoming a college-educated social worker illustrates that there is life after prison. And thanks to a new digital educational program that she’s leading at LinkedIn, Rimer hopes to prepare thousands of Americans with felony convictions for employment, a major step toward new opportunities and ...
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Truist Foundation Awards Center for Employment Opportunities $1M
Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO), the nation’s largest provider of comprehensive employment services to people returning from jail or prison, has received a $1 million grant from Truist Foundation.
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Researchers Partner with CEO’s Participant Advisory Council to Learn How to Improve Feedback
The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) provides employment services and other supports to individuals who have recently returned home from incarceration. CEO believes that organizations that listen to their participants and incorporate their voices into program decisions are better able to provide accessible and effective services.
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Nonprofits fill void in training people of color
Nonprofits are working to prepare young people of color, those formerly incarcerated and tribal college students for career growth, especially in fields where they remain underrepresented.
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City & State 2022 Nonprofit Power 100
Nonprofit organizations play an invaluable and yet overlooked role in New York. These organizations, with rare exceptions, are led by idealistic executives who toil day after day to make New York a better place.
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Preventing reimprisonment of formerly incarcerated individuals starts with higher-paying jobs
The city should work with unions and re-entry providers to create work opportunities that facilitate and track long-term success.
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New York Times: For People Just Leaving Prison, a Novel Kind of Support: Cash
Joining a raft of initiatives aimed at helping the formerly incarcerated, a program gives money to defray expenses they face, including court fines and rent.
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How the Returning Citizen Stimulus and CEO Help the Formerly Incarcerated
CEO's Director of Social Enterprise Derick Bowers appeared on Roland Martin Unfiltered to discuss the Returning Citizen Stimulus and CEO's program model. (Clip begins at 1:21:43)
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Opinion: Key Fixes for New York’s Broken Parole System Await the Governor’s Signature
It wasn’t the eight months of military-style, intense shock incarceration that finally broke me; it was my parole officer. After my incarceration at Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility for non-violent offenders in Brocton, New York, I quickly realized I was living in constant fear of reincarceration. My parole officer had ...
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To Boost Hiring, New York Makes Case for a ‘Clean Slate’
For many Americans, criminal records stand as stubborn barriers to employment and housing. Several states are now advancing efforts to automatically seal and expunge those records.
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Google Partners with Nonprofits on Skills Training for Formerly Incarcerated People
Google will join New York-based groups The Ladies of Hope Ministries, Center for Employment Opportunities, Defy Ventures and The Fortune Society to help improve job prospects for people with criminal records, a group that's unemployed at 5x the national average.
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The Positive Mind Radio Show Interview on Mental Health
The Positive Mind Show on 99.5FM in New York City spoke with Christopher Watler, CEO’s Chief External Affairs Officer and Alexandra Poolt, CEO’s Manager of Supportive Services regarding the organization's mental health initiatives.
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