Creating employment opportunities for the hard-to-place

Peggy Hutchison, CEO, Primavera Foundation

Challenge: Establishing a reliable track record is critical for people with barriers to employment. Temporary employment can be a vital bridge, yet many residents in shelters and rental housing programs may be exploited by unethical day-labor businesses that pay less than minimum wage or charge them for supplies and transportation.



The mission of the Primavera Foundation is to provide pathways out of poverty through safe, affordable housing, workforce development and neighborhood revitalization. Located in Tucson, Arizona, Primavera serves residents in one of the most economically distressed large cities in the United States. In Pima County, home of Tucson, one in five people live below the poverty line, and the population of people experiencing homelessness is the highest in the state. Employment is critical and many rely on temporary day labor both for income and as a bridge to a more permanent solution—not to mention the self-esteem it builds.

However, day-labor contractors are not always the most ethical employers. As documented by a University of California-Los Angeles study, wage theft is commonplace and day laborers are frequently denied breaks, forced to work longer than agreed, or even threatened or assaulted by employers. That was true in Pima County in the 1990s, when Primavera staff and volunteers began hearing reports of scamming and abuse from the individuals living in our shelter and rental housing programs.

Our organizational strategy in response was two-pronged. We pressured the Department of Labor to investigate one of the perpetrators. This resulted in returned workers' wages and— in 1997—the launch of Primavera Works. Our alternative staffing service provides temporary and temp-to-hire workers to residential, business and governmental customers. It's a true win-win. People with significant barriers to employment—such as disabled or traumatized veterans, youth who have aged out of foster care, formerly incarcerated individuals and people who lost their jobs during the Great Recession—receive job-readiness and employment-retention training. They also are offered one-to-one employment coaching; assistance with housing, work supplies, clothing and transportation; and, of course, work for which they not only earn a fair wage but also builds experience and self-esteem. Our business customers get workers who already have been screened and are supervised by a reliable partner. Because the workers are on our payroll, we ensure employment eligibility and pay workers' compensation and FICA. And, unlike most day-labor contractors, we encourage customers to hire workers they like on a permanent basis.

Terence Atwood is an example of one of our success stories. He came to Tucson from Boston in December 2008, hoping to find work. He was previously incarcerated for 14 months, making it difficult to find employment. Atwood entered our men's shelter and was referred to Primavera Works for assistance in finding employment, as well as our New Chance program for homeless ex-offenders. Soon, he had obtained a monthly bus pass, acquired clothing appropriate for a job interview and earned a training certificate in food handling. He went on to obtain full-time employment and housing. While he has experienced some challenges since leaving the shelter, including losing jobs and housing, Atwood continued to persevere, heeding advice from the Primavera Works Tools for Success Workshop to "never take no for an answer." In March of 2015, Atwood was promoted in his current job--including a pay increase.

After 18 years, Primavera Works is still is going strong and we recently developed a strategic plan for growth. Currently, many of our job placements (57 percent) are for manual work that requires relatively hard labor or long hours under the sun, such as landscaping and construction. That rules out many older people and those with physically challenging conditions. Thus, Primavera Works is targeting and seeking to grow new sectors of the market, such as property management companies that need reliable crews to do apartment "turns" (preparing units for new occupants). Our growth plan includes hiring a business development manager to drive that growth, as well as the expansion of our water-harvesting service.

Expanding into new market sectors also means Primavera Works can serve more people needing work. While the first priority has been to ensure work opportunities for residents in our housing and shelter programs, our goal is to have so much business we can serve walk-ins from the larger community. Another emerging challenge in assisting people with lengthy gaps in their resumes or physical, mental and/or behavioral health challenges is assessing their skills and matching them to the needs of local businesses. Customers seeking crews and individual workers come to us not only because they believe in our mission, but also because they want and get reliable workers who do a good job.

Our growth plan for Primavera Works also requires the implementation of customer-performance-management technology that can quantify the value of business and residential customers as well as program participants. In addition, we want to better understand the impact of bundled services, such as housing plus employment, plus financial empowerment, plus community building and engagement. Which combination of services contributes the most to creating a successful work experience for both workers and customers? We want to know which efforts drive the highest performance with the greatest outcomes. This will enable us to direct precious resources to where we are having the greatest impact for individuals, businesses and our community.

Safe, affordable housing and economic opportunities go hand in hand. Without one, it's difficult to have the other. Primavera Works makes both achievable.