Second Chance 
Fact Sheet
Second Chance
Program Overview
Job training and warehouse certification for Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) confinees and other people in need. The program is designed to prepare individuals for successful re-entry into the full-time workplace and community.
Community Service
Through a working partnership with TDCJ, confinee 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, the Food Bank’s Warehouseman OJT program prepares confinees from the TDCJ for full-time employment. The Houston Food Bank Warehouseman Certification Course was developed with Windham School District.
Participants are chosen from a corps of productive confinee 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 TDCJ confinees an opportunity for transitional work opportunities. The participants have graduated from our Warehouseman Certification Course during their incarceration with TDCJ.
Participants receive:
Six months of part-time employment where they can demonstrate work ethic, teamwork and job responsibilities.
Additional training in job seeking skills to 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