Title
Honoring and celebrating Ready, Willing & Able for helping hundreds of men overcome poverty, addiction and crime to become productive, contributing members of our community and responsible fathers to their children in the City of Brotherly Love by providing resources to men such as a transitional housing, recovery services, life skills and living wage employment that promotes healthy households and responsible fatherhood.
Body
WHEREAS, Ready, Willing & Able (RWA) is an organization dedicated to providing a hand up rather than a handout by assisting homeless men who demonstrate a commitment to becoming self-sufficient and living healthier lifestyles; and
WHEREAS, RWA was established by The Doe Fund with a mission to help the homeless lead independent, productive lives. RWA expanded programming to respond to the specific needs of difficult-to-employ populations, including recent parolees, homeless individuals living with HIV/AIDS, homeless veterans and low-income individuals and families; and
WHEREAS, RWA works with Philadelphians facing serious social and economic barriers: 100% are homeless, nearly 70% of RWA trainees have incarceration histories of 5 years or more, 96% have a history of drug or alcohol abuse and 36% do not have a high school diploma or a GED; and
WHEREAS, To solve homelessness for a night, you need shelter. To solve homelessness for good, you need work. Since RWA launched, it has used paid transitional work and a holistic, individualized service package to catapult hundreds of men over difficult social and economic barriers into the workforce and out of cycles of homelessness, crime and addiction; and
WHEREAS, RWA helps develop practical life skills in men by providing rehabilitative services, vocational training, adult basic education, social support services, including conflict resolution, parenting and financial management classes as well as life-long graduate services; and
WHEREAS, RWA combats recidivism and homele...
Click here for full text