RecycleForce, Inc.
RecycleForce, Inc. is a social enterprise in Indianapolis that provides workforce training to formerly incarcerated individuals in the recycling industry. Specifically, the program aims to help formerly incarcerated individuals learn skills and behaviors that will ultimately result in permanent jobs, and to help participants reintegrate into the community through connections to children, families, mentors, and positive peer groups.
RecycleForce, Inc. is a social enterprise in Indianapolis that provides workforce training to formerly incarcerated individuals in the recycling industry. Specifically, the program aims to help formerly incarcerated individuals learn skills and behaviors that will ultimately result in permanent jobs, and to help participants reintegrate into the community through connections to children, families, mentors, and positive peer groups.
As a social enterprise, RecycleForce, Inc. has three interconnected goals: (1) to help formerly incarcerated men and women successfully reenter society by providing paid employment and training along with social services; (2) to keep as much material out of landfills as possible; and (3) to fund its operations as much as possible from the sale of recycled materials. RecycleForce, Inc. was one of three Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration (ETJD) grantees testing a modified transitional jobs program model, wherein participants were placed into fully subsidized, temporary positions at RecycleForce while receiving various forms of social and economic support and assistance in obtaining unsubsidized employment.
RecycleForce, Inc. helps ex-offenders transition back into the community through job training and important practical support, such as housing and legal assistance. Through the process of de-manufacturing computers, then packing and shipping the resulting e-waste, participants learn to use a variety of tool pack/weigh materials, solve problems, load and unload trucks and pallets, as well as how to safely operate machinery such as forklifts and balers. Every program participant receives a job and a paycheck – real money for real work – and the dignity that goes along with employment. Employment is coupled with a suite of wraparound services and support (such as driver license re-instatement, bus passes, housing assistance, budgeting/financial literacy, and access to various educational opportunities) and trainings that lead to workplace certifications that are transferrable to a variety of industries.