This is the third article in an eight-part series running that will follow our Chicago urban farms through harvest. Go back to part two. Go ahead to part four.
When Deirdra Carlisle arrived at Heartland Alliance’s Chicago FarmWorks for her first day of work, she was a bit taken aback. Looking at the two acres of vegetables, half dozen fruit trees and, yes, a few weeds, she thought there was something missing. “When they said farm, I thought we’d be seeing pigs and chickens,” she admitted. Dierdra’s confusion is understandable. Most urbanites haven’t had much if any first-hand experience on farms, especially one on Chicago’s west side, next to train tracks and a metal finishing business. And while Chicago FarmWorks is indeed a real farm, working there doesn’t necessarily require previous experience in farming. In fact, that’s part of FarmWorks’ mission.
” Many participants have said this changes their self esteem and makes them feel more positive”
This is because more than simply a place to produce vegetables, Chicago FarmWorks also fights poverty with what are called transitional jobs. Transitional jobs are an employment model that puts people into paid, temporary jobs while they get assistance finding full-time permanent employment. This way, people earn money and gain skills while getting support during their job search. Studies across the country have proven that this kind of programming can be effective at getting people back into the workforce, even people with multiple barriers to employment, such as long term unemployment, a criminal record, or a history of homelessness.
“Transitional jobs rapidly connect people to employment,” said Chris Warland, Associate Director of Heartland Alliance’s National Initiatives, who manages field programming for the National Transitional Jobs Network. “One of the strengths of transitional jobs is that it gets someone working right away who might otherwise not be working without the interventions. If someone is not finding success for whatever reason in the labor market, a transition job can start meeting their basic needs faster and more reliably than any other method.”
Deirdra Carlisle begins the Heartland Alliance transitional jobs training program, which includes two days a week working at Farmworks, two days working at the food depository and one day taking employment readiness classes and job seeking. © Heartland Alliance
What this looks like at Chicago FarmWorks is that participants are paid to work five days a week, two at the farm, two at the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s southside warehouse, and one day a week taking employment readiness classes, which include time spent job searching.
” It works because our initial goal was to get on our feet. And it’s happening. Heartland helped us get to the job fair, and they helped push us. And a little financial motivation doesn’t hurt.”
On the farm, participants work in teams alongside the FarmWorks staff and are involved in all aspects of farming, from planting to harvesting. At the Greater Chicago Food Depository warehouse, participants box food donations and load trucks for distribution to pantries. Combining farm work with warehousing has a reason behind it too, according to Nancy Phillips, Senior Director of Employment and Economic Advancement at Heartland Alliance and the person responsible for developing FarmWorks.
“Both workplaces give the participants an opportunity to give back to community,” Nancy said recently, “because they know that fighting hunger is important work. Many participants have said this changes their self esteem and makes them feel more positive. At the farm this means learning teamwork and gaining interest watching things grow, planting and harvesting. And for the food depository, it’s a really big wonderful active warehouse, the opportunity to gain skills in an in-demand industry, while contributing the mission to end hunger.”
Dierdra Carlisle agrees. “I enjoy it, the fulfillment of knowing that you’re helping the community grow food. And I’m learning too. So I think there’s a lot to be gained from it.” After working at the farm for a couple of weeks, she’s starting to get the hang of it.
But it generally isn’t long before participants find full-time employment. Quentin Allen, another transitional jobs participant who started at the same time as Dierdra, has already found a full-time, permanent job as a security guard. Since its inception, 100 people have found fulltime permanent employment through Chicago FarmWorks, and kept the job through a 30 day follow-up period.
Chris Warland explained that this kind of success has been demonstrated across the country, too. “As an employment intervention, transitional jobs have been studied more rigorously than almost any other model,” he said. In addition to putting people back to work, transitional jobs have been shown to decrease recidivism and lower reliance on public benefits. “Both those represent significant public benefits saving. In addition, the person in the program is being productive, earning money, paying taxes, and spending money locally.”
As someone who’s experienced transitional jobs, Quentin Allen thinks it’s a good model.
“It’s successful,” he said. “It works because our initial goal was to get on our feet. And it’s happening. Heartland helped us get to the job fair, and they helped push us. And a little financial motivation doesn’t hurt.”
Heartland Alliance’s Transitional Jobs Training Program is an opportunity to give back to the community. Participants know that fighting hunger is important work, and many have said that this increases their self esteem and positivity. Dierdra Carlisle with fresh turnips at FarmWorks. © Heartland Alliance
This is the third article in an eight-part series running that will follow our Chicago urban farms through harvest. Go back to part two. Go ahead to part four.
