|
 Printer-Friendly Version
Remarks Prepared for Delivery by
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao
Ready4Work Grant Award
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Friday, March 19, 2004
Thank you for that kind introduction, Fred [Davie, Vice President, Public/Private Ventures]. And thank you for the outstanding work that Public/Private Ventures is doing here in Philadelphia. Your work gives second chances to some of the people who most need them.
I am pleased that Senator Arlen Specter, Mayor John Street, Prison Commissioner Leon King, and Charlie Greene from Senator Santorum's office are here with us today. It's also good to see Co-Chief Probation Officer Robert Malvestuto, whose support is vital to the Ready4Work Initiative. And I'm glad to see so many judges and court administrators from the First Judicial District.
Today, I am pleased to award more than $1 million to Search for Common Ground to help former offenders make a successful transition to community life and long-term employment.
This grant is part of President George W. Bush's initiative vision to help former offenders turn their lives around. As the President said in his State of the Union address, everyone deserves a second chance. And faith-based organizations like Search for Common Ground can reach out and touch the human heart in a special way.
I'm proud that the Department of Labor's Ready4Work Initiative is playing a key role in implementing the President's initiative. Together, the Department of Labor , the Department of Justice and the Annie E. Casey Foundation have provide d s $22.5 million to help former offenders find jobs and keep them.
Finding meaningful employment is important not only to former offenders, but also to their families and their communities. Research shows that most former offenders return to their home communities after they are released. And one of the key challenges they face is the lack of employment opportunities.
Ready4Work helps break the cycle of crime and imprisonment. It brings together faith-based and community organizations, the criminal justice system and local businesses to help these men and women earn a living and a second chance.
Search for Common Ground will use this grant to address the full range of needs that former offenders face. Through mentoring and training, it will provide spiritual, mental and physical support. It will help them find employment, housing, education, transportation, food and clothing. And it will help them face and resolve any legal, health, substance abuse and family and community problems. This comprehensive, compassionate approach gives former offenders a chance to redeem and rebuild their lives.
Only by treating the whole person can we change a life.
Few people glide through life without regrets. That's why there is nothing so common as the wish for a new beginning. Search for Common Ground offers that new beginning to some of the people who need it most.
So, now, I am pleased to present this check to Roger Conner, executive director of the Search for Common Ground .
# # #
_________________________________________________________________
| 
