Crawford Works partners with all willing and capable people to assist them in advancing to economic self-sufficiency through employment.  Using a holistic and collaborative approach, Crawford Works offers workforce development training and job placement opportunities through access to area employers, while providing comprehensive support services that will help to build a stronger and better prepared workforce.

​

Crawford Works is a new non-profit organization that has been created for the purpose of assisting all willing and capable individuals with advancing to economic self-sufficiency through employment.  Crawford Works, through a network of comprehensive employment services and employer partnerships, will serve two clients:

​

• Job seekers who want to work their way out of poverty (Members)

• Employers who pay a fair wage and offer health benefits (Employer Partners)

Job seekers in poverty face multiple barriers that prevent them from making a successful transition to steady and continuous employment.  Barriers may include a pattern of broken commitments, mental health issues (often depression), lack of problem solving skills, unstable work history, lack of planning skills, lack of education, a criminal record, insufficient job skills, language barriers, legal barriers, poor financial literacy and money management, lack of transportation, or child care, or lack of confidence.  Individuals and families that find themselves in a vicious cycle of poverty and dependency on public assistance do not usually have the ability to simply lift themselves out of their circumstances. 

​

An effective approach to transitioning people into steady employment has to address the multiple barriers an individual faces and it must do so by addressing the whole person.  This approach respects the dignity of the members while building them up to become responsible for themselves.  Economically self-sufficient individuals are taxpayers, role models, and productive citizens who are able to provide for themselves and their families without public assistance. 

​

By helping someone transition to steady employment, employers will benefit from a previously untapped source of entry- and mid-level workers; tapping into one of the largest labor pools available since women entered into the workplace during World War II.  The community will benefit because there will be a decreased need for public resources and a solution-focused strategy to eliminate poverty in the county.   

​

Poverty impacts individuals, families and communities.  Cincinnati Works co-founder, Dave Phillips describes poverty in this way, “poverty is a cancer that keeps growing while killing our neighbors.  Isn’t it time we come together to find a lasting cure for this disease?”  In Crawford County, the economic and community impact of generational poverty is very real and apparent and the need to transition people into steady employment is serious. 

​

There is no cost to become an Employer Partner or Member and our services are free to both.