Our employment program, GOSOWorks, was included in a recent article in the New York Post, focusing on the challenges young men in our city can face when reentering into their communities and searching for meaningful employment. We’re proud to be a commitment resource for our participants.
From the article:
There are other local organizations that help combat recidivism by getting people with criminal backgrounds into the workplace. These include Getting Out Staying Out (GOSO) in Harlem and Exodus Transitional Community (East Harlem, Poughkeepsie, NY and Newburgh, NY.)
GOSO caters to young men while they are still incarcerated at Rikers Island, on probation or awaiting adjudication. It teaches them to set achievable goals and lays the groundwork for financial self-sufficiency and emotional stability after release.
“We emphasize the Three Es — Education, Employment and Emotional well-being,” says GOSO associate executive director Geoffrey Golia. Participants of the GOSOWorks program are ideally matched with jobs according to their interests and abilities, and are offered GOSO-funded internships of up to 240 hours, after which about 70 percent of participants get hired.
GOSO connected 26-year-old Tim Randall of Crown Heights with Littleneck Outpost in Brooklyn 21 months ago. Owner Aaron Lefkove couldn’t be more thrilled. “Hiring is tough. One out of 50 will be hard, dedicated workers. Tim is one of them.”
Randall is just as happy with the situation. Although he doesn’t want to disclose how he got to Rikers Island, he says landing at GOSO and then getting a job where he is appreciated is one of the best things that has ever happened to him.
“I have stability now,” he says, explaining that he lived in as many as five different foster homes since the age of 17. “Before, as soon as I got used to things, they would go away.”
A job, an apartment of his own and a connection to GOSO’s Therapy Wednesdays “gives me a different perspective. I feel proud,” he says.