One of our questions in the 'Motivations' circle is 'What gives you great joy?"  And for us, as staff of The Cara Program, our frequent answer is 'the students'.  Their outlook on life, gratitude and hope for opportunity inspires us each day.  Here's one such example from a student, turned Cleanslate intern, turned permanent employee of Cleanslate.    

 “I had a conviction that stopped any opportunity I had of getting my life back.  Cleanslate Property Services hired me as a Special Projects Associate, with full benefits. So after feeling I had no hope for the future, Cleanslate Property Services gave me pride and a sense of accomplishment that I had lost. When we go into some of the communities we service, the neighbors are so glad to see us because they are the ones usually left with the burden of taking care of these abandoned properties. They are so thankful for us making their block more presentable and safe.”

Calvin J., Cleanslate Property Services Special Projects Associate

In January 2007, Cleanslate hired Cathy as a Crew Chief, to lead a Cleanslate crew in the beautification of 79th Street in Auburn-Gresham. As a student* of The Cara Program, Cathy was fully committed to her internship at Cleanslate, even stepping up to fill in for her Crew Chief when she was ill. And then, when a full-time position opened up, Cathy proved herself the best candidate for the job. For two and a half years, Cathy enjoyed leading her crew, and earned the respect of her interns because she could identify with their experiences. Cathy excelled at her job thanks to the time and energy that she put into her coaching relationship with each of her interns.

Although she enjoyed working with Cleanslate, when an opportunity opened up at The Cara Program’s Career Pathways Resource Center (CPRC) on the University of Chicago campus, Cathy enthusiastically applied for the job. Her application was successful, and Cathy was soon promoted to Community Resource Specialist at CPRC. She now focuses on helping south side residents find access to employment.

Cathy loves assessing job seekers’ needs and helping them to identify the best opportunities for themselves available through The Cara Program and Cleanslate, as well as other community resources. Further, Cathy’s successful promotion created an opportunity for another motivated Cleanslate intern, Shevonne, to find permanent, quality employment at Cleanslate.

The aim of The Cara Program and our social enterprise, Cleanslate, is to assist our motivated students to find real, lasting success. We are so pleased to celebrate Cathy’s success and thank her for all that she has contributed to our organization. And, we are thrilled to welcome Shevonne onto our staff as the newest Cleanslate Crew Chief.

* We use terms like 'students' and 'graduates' to underscore that our participants are not ‘clients’ to be served or ‘cases’ to be managed, but individuals who are in a learning environment and actively seeking to develop their skills.

Writer's Note: Since this article was first penned, both women have achieved yet another promotion - Cathy is now a Client Support Specialist at Career Pathways, helping residents acquire resources and develop skills to manage their household needs, while growing in their newfound careers.  And Shevonne is a Cleanslate Supervisor for our property preservation business, where her role is to coach new interns and to manage workflow for this complex and high-volume business line.

Watch this FOX News piece about the humble beginnings of our social enterprise.  Special thanks to Goldman Sachs for loaning us a top-performing managing director (Mark Carroll) as part of a full-year fellowship program, connecting GS leaders with non-profit innovators with whom they can help create sustainable change in the non-profit sector.  With his help, Cleanslate went from idea to execution within six months over five years, and is now a multi-million dollar growing business helping hundreds of individuals each year build critical skills to revive themselves, their careers and their communities in the process.