The HOPE Program

The HOPE Program empowers New Yorkers living in poverty to build sustainable futures through comprehensive training, jobs, advancement and lifelong career support. We offer training for diverse careers as well as specialized programs in the food and green collar sectors. Our comprehensive approach includes digital literacy, financial access, mental health, daily meals, transportation and more. <br><br>In our over three decades of service, we have achieved results among the strongest in the industry, including a 70% job placement rate, and 90-day and one-year retention rates of 90% and 75% respectively. In the past year, our students and graduates earned $9.8 million in wages!<br><br>"HOPE reconnected me with the abilities within myself...I now have my dream job as a Kitchen Manager. But I'm not stopping there- I'm working to launch my own bread company and teach others to cook professionally. Most importantly, I want to reconnect with my children and make my mom proud." - Monica, HOPE Graduate

HOPE will be a leader in New York City our holistic approach to providing meaningful employment and

Goal One: HOPE will continue to provide robust and comprehensive job training programs to New Yorkers with the deepest barriers to employment, with a focus on the green economy.

Goal Two: We will invest in staff by developing a comprehensive DEIA strategy and plan, tuition reimbursement, career ladder opportunities and more.

Goal Three: We will innovate by exploring emerging labor markets such as micromobility and aquaculture to inform future training and career opportunities.

HOPE has promoted leadership development opportunities for staff at all levels, ensuring that staff build the skills and confidence to lead successful, impactful careers in our sector. We have supported staff in completing leadership training opportunities with New York Community Trust, Columbia Senior Leaders and Developing Leaders Programs, Coro Workforce Systems Leadership Program, and more. We have offered frontline staff press opportunities to promote our work to the community. We encourage staff at all levels to serve on committees with our Board of Directors, as well as on our Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) staff committee, which holds large-scale decision making power, and is leading initiatives such as a compensation equity analysis, selection of DEIA training, standardizing hiring practices, creating formalized pathways for promotion, and more.

The pandemic has significantly impacted the types of job opportunities available to our clients. In response, we have conducted in-depth labor market research, adapted our training to support placement in emerging fields, and developed new employer partnerships. For instance, in early 2020, we were in the midst of developing a training program in culinary and food service. When the pandemic struck, we shifted our focus to career fields that were newly in high demand, such as micromobility, social services, green infrastructure, and others. We remained abreast of trends as the labor market evolved, and have even piloted a sector-specific, employer-informed model for select cohorts of our general industry training program with a focus on sectors and employers with a significant need for skilled labor, as well as transferable customer service skills. Beyond incorporating transferable skills for specific sectors into existing programs, we are developing and launching new programs in sectors that are projected to grow in the long-term, such as HVAC installation and maintenance, micromobility, aquaculture, and landscaping. HOPE has also implemented a remote job training curriculum, the first of its kind serving New Yorkers with low levels of digital literacy. We provide laptops and/or WiFi hotspots to all clients who lack in-home digital access, and our new innovative pre-training, combined with our best-in-class digital literacy curriculum, ensures that all participants have the skills to participate in remote training and succeed in online job search. Over the past year, we have implemented a hybrid approach to all of our programs, providing opportunities for in-the-field work experience, hands-on hard skills training and certifications, and face-to-face supportive services.