License to Thrive puts people on the road to financial stability
For students looking to enter the trades, reliable transportation is as essential as skills and tools. Construction workers can’t rely on buses to get to job sites outside of traditional work hours, and trade union jobs often require a valid driver’s license.
With support from United Way, the Trade Institute of Pittsburgh is working to help those re-entering the workforce after incarceration, homelessness or other challenges. Their approach? Teach people how to drive, get licenses and save to purchase their own car while they’re learning and working.
The Trade Institute focuses on trade skills and life skills to help students with significant barriers to employment access career opportunities. The nonprofit offers 10-week tuition-free training in masonry and carpentry, as well as social service support and job placement.
Senior Case Manager Kirk Gilbert oversees the Trade Institute’s License to Thrive program, which in three years has helped more than 100 people obtain their driver’s licenses. Funded in part by United Way, it’s an innovative, human-centered program that directly addresses the transportation barrier to employment.
Training for work and life
Who does the Trade Institute serve? “Basically, anyone who is willing to learn and wants to work,” says Gilbert. “We help people who have more complex needs that other job training and readiness programs don’t serve. We are here for our most vulnerable neighbors.”
License to Thrive helps insured students “rent” a Trade Institute-owned vehicle during the day to get to job sites. The weekly rate they pay to use the car is escrowed so they can purchase their own vehicle through the Trade Institute, which buys low-cost vehicles specifically for students from dealership partners. That way, students with low or no credit can avoid high interest rates on vehicle purchases.
License to Thrive also preps students to pass their driver’s test. Gilbert teaches safety and driving lessons, letting students get comfortable in parking lots before venturing out onto the roads for more practice. The Trade Institute also helps students resolve paperwork, restitution fees and fines standing in the way of getting their license.
New skills, new beginnings
The Trade Institute brings dignity to the whole person, says Gilbert, accepting clients without a high school diploma or GED or with criminal backgrounds into its tuition-free programs. Case managers work with every new student to identify goals and life skills to align with their circumstances.
Gilbert recalls the Trade Institute’s oldest client Kenny, 55, who spent 20 years in prison before being pardoned. The day Kenny got his license; he picked Gilbert up and spun him around.
“Everyone’s a teenager the day they get their license,” he says.
Success can look like a career in the trades or a return to treatment for substance use disorder. The Trade Institute’s doors always remain open to graduates who return in need of services.
Best of all, the Trade Institute is now looking to start offering its rent-to-own vehicle services to other nonprofits as a potential revenue stream.