Second Chance                                            

Fact Sheet
Second Chance 

Program Overview
Job training and warehouse certification for Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) prisoners and other people in need. Second Chance comprises programs designed to prepare individuals for successful re-entry into the full-time workplace and community.

Foundation for Serving for Success: Second Chance is the launching pad for our future Serving for Success Program, now in the pilot phase. Serving for Success provides more food for hungry people through a collaboration that prepares individuals within the criminal justice system and others for success in the workplace and the community.

Commitment to Service: Through a working partnership with TDCJ, prisoner volunteers process food and prepare shipments for distribution by working in all facets of warehouse operations.

OJT (Warehouseman "On the Job" Training): Through on-the-job (OJT) and classroom training, this Food Bank program prepares prisoners for full-time employment. The Houston Food Bank Warehouseman Certification Course was developed with the TDCJ’s Windham School District.

Participants are chosen from a corps of productive offender volunteers who regularly come to the Houston Food Bank to help prepare food for distribution. Each year, approximately 30 participants get 40 hours of classroom training and hands-on experience in our warehouse. As a result, they earn warehouseman certification, forklift certification and an opportunity for participation in READY, a post-release vocational training program.

READY (Reaching Employment and Doing it Yourself): Developed at the Houston Food Bank, this six-month vocational training program gives post-release OJT program graduates an opportunity for transitional work. The participants receive six months of part-time employment where they can demonstrate work ethic, teamwork and job responsibilities. Additional training in job seeking skills helps them secure permanent employment.

HIT (Hope In Training): Similar to the OJT Program, people from shelters, transitional living facilities and partner agencies are eligible to receive hands-on warehouse and classroom training. Students completing the training will earn warehouse and forklift certification.

Contact
Roslyn Bibb
Director of Training/Quality Assurance
713-547-8607
rbibb@houstonfoodbank.org