Entrepreneurship Training for Ex Offenders--Starting Your Own Business

An obvious way to help ex-offenders become legitimate earners is to teach them how to start a business.  Many employers aren't crazy about hiring them, and starting a business is a risky thing, while lots of ex-offenders are O.K. with risk taking.  So where are programs to help them do this?

In looking it over, I found some common threads: 1) many programs start right in prison, among active prisoners, rather than people out on the street. However, some work with released people and 2) yep, there's no grants or money giveaways.  At best, some offer the chance to get a microloan on favorable terms.  But the training in entrepreneural skills, especially writing business plans that you can present to institutions that loan money, is important in being able to get access to money.

Where to look?  Probably the most well-known is PEP (Prison Entrepreneurship Program) in Texas, in which inmates are chosen from across the Texas penal system to participate, after which they are transferred to the Cleveland (TX) facility and given an intensive course in business startup skills like marketing, finance and business plan writing.  The inmates have to be within 18 months of the end of their sentences, with at least 6 more months to serve, and must read and do math on at least the 10th grade level. Likewise, the Oklahoma Ex Offender Entrepreneural Training and Support Services are for inmates with GEDs or high school diplomas who are close to release. For women prisoners in Washington State and Oregon, there is the LIFE Prison Re-entry program that teaches entrepreneural skills to prisoners at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Wilsonville, OR, and the Washington Correctional Center for Women.

But what's out there once you're out?  There are a few things around the country.  One is Defy Ventures in metropolitan New York, which offers business training.  JVSChicago runs all sorts of business and job training, but has in the recent past offered the B.E.S.T program especially for ex-offenders. Project ReMade in the San Franciso area run by the Stanford Law School provides business training for women ex-offenders that have been out at least a year, but less than five years who have a high school diploma or a GED.  WIBO (Workshop in Business Opportunities) in New York that does all sorts of business training has workshops for ex-offenders.  Most interestingly, in the San Francisco area, the Springmeyer Law Firm offers pro bono services for ex-offenders who are starting up their businesses.

For more information on ex-offender business training opportunities, see this Inc magazine article, which is a few years old, but still has good information.

Get Your Culture Vulture On--Free Museum Passes

I realize that not many are lucky enough to have a wonderful museum like the Toledo Museum of Art free to them every day (except for special exhibits).  So we in Toledo like to bask/brag a bit.  In fact TMA is also letting active military personnel and their immediate families in free for one special exhibit, the Egypt Experience till September 4th. 

But lots of free opportunities await you at museums around the country.  On September 24, 2011, the Smithonian Museum in Washington, which is always free, sponsors a free museum day at various locations around the country.  Send them an application for a free ticket for two, and the holder can get in for free.

But many other museums have "free days" too.  The website Free Museum Day lists the free days for museums in Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, and San Diego.  They also list museums in those cities that are free all the time.

For military personnel and their families, museums in the Blue Star initiative (of which there are over 1500 in the U.S. and territories) are given free admission (up to five family members) between Memorial Day and Labor Day. 

Finally, holders of a Bank of America credit card are given free admission to over 150 museums around the country on certain days each month.  See the website for days in your area musuems.

Could You Use Some Financial Coaching and Advice? It May Be Out There.

What’s a financial opportunity center?  It’s a place where low or moderate income people can go to get help in setting long-term financial goals, like savings and investment, from people who aren’t selling products.  They can help think about where you would like to be financially in the long term, and how to use resources in your community like job training, benefits and income tax preparation as tools to get there.  This goes beyond “emergency help” and works to get people to the next level, where they are planning on creating financial assets and growing them for the long run.

 In north Toledo, ONE North has created a financial opportunity center at 2860 Lagrange Street near Dexter for people living in north Toledo. The phone number is (419) 724 5640.  You can get “financial coaching” to achieve your financial goals, income tax preparation, and financial education opportunities, like the budgeting and banking class on July 13th, or the class on credit and loans on July 23rd. 

But Toledo is just one city with financial opportunity centers.  Other places include Detroit, Houston, Cincinnati, Rhode Island, Minnesota, Chicago, Indianapolis, San Diego and more.  They are funded in cooperation with LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), a national nonprofit, but they are run by local nonprofits in their cities.  Look for the local LISC office in your area and ask if there is a local nonprofit with such programs.  They can tell you if they have a local nonprofit partner that provides such services.