Columbus Area Clean Turn Opens Property Service Faithventure

The large number of homes in foreclosure has created a faithventure opportunity to employ a significant number of chronically unemployed people in danger of homelessness.

Late last year, Clean Turn announced the opening of its for-profit property service social enterprise. The company will partner with Columbus, Ohio, area non-profits working with individuals with significant barriers to employability such as C.R.A.C.K. House Ministries.

The organization's new CEO, John Rush, is a former director of Chicago area Cleanslate where he spearheaded business growth that led to 200 jobs for ex-offenders.

As its web site explains:

CleanTurn is privately-held and for-profit.  CleanTurn is established on the emerging business model designed to produce a return on investment for its owners while addressing social needs.  CleanTurn will reduce the social costs of individuals who have high obstacles to employment, while providing premiere customized property services to its customers.  CleanTurn crafts a service plan allowing its customers to build a model which will serve their needs best over the long term. (Read more here.)

For more information, visit Clean Turn's website.

Better Together: Enviro-Recycle Partners with Belay to Open Denver Mattress Recycling Faithventure

For several years Belay Enterprises has dreamed about opening a mattress recycling faithventure in Denver.

We researched and planned...and got nowhere because we ran into a couple of problems that we found hard to overcome:

First, we couldn't find a way to sell the polyurethane which is the major component harvested from dismantled mattresses. Instead, we were going to have to ship it to the coasts, an expensive proposition.

Next, we were concerned about competition from an established recycler in the community. Would there be enough people willing to pay a disposal fee to recycle mattresses when dumping old beds in the trash was still largely free?

Finally, we struggled with finding a partner to take the lead on the project. With several new initiatives underway at Belay, mattress recycling was dropping to the bottom of our priorities because of it's significant challenges. In order to move the idea forward, we needed someone with the passion to make it happen and the resources to cover start-up costs.

Well, I'm excited to announce that God has surprised us all by resurrecting our dream through a unique partnership early this year. And we've been able to find solutions to our three identified problems.

Last fall, the area's only mattress recycler went out of business. This created a huge problem for local mattress retailers who now were drowning in used mattresses and having to pay significant storage and disposal fees. Phillip Lotterhos, the owner of the Boulder Urban Mattress, realized he had to solve his storage problem right away and started a new non-profit organization Enviro-Recycle to disassemble mattresses and employ people rebuilding lives. 

Belay Enterprises is going to partner in the development of this new project by participating on the board of the new organization. We will also staff the recycling facility, employing and job-training six individuals a year rebuilding lives from addiction, homelessness and prison. We expect that number will grow quickly over time as the project expands.

Once again, I'm reminded that in God's kingdom, we accomplish far more when we work together. I am excited to see how God has brought together a team of individuals with unique gifts and talents towards a common goal of creating employment opportunities for people shut out of the job market. And I am thrilled that this project will contribute jobs towards Belay's ambitious five year goal of creating 750 jobs.

If you're interested in learning more or recycling a mattress, check out the web site for more information as well as drop off fees. Stay tuned as the web site undergoes improvements soon.

About Wages and People Rebuilding Lives from Addiction, Homelessness and Prison

In Denver, a living wage ranges from $8.64 an hour to $16.60 an hour depending on whether one is single or the primary wage earner in a family.

In the various Belay programs we start people rebuilding lives at $8 an hour. While our heart is that all employees would be able to make a living wage, we've discovered over the years the value of being very intentional in how we structure our wages.

We hire people rebuilding lives. Our interviewing process is very unusual. If you are qualified to get a job somewhere else, we want you to do that. Our positions are reserved for people who are shut out of the job market because of significant barriers to employability including addiction, homelessness and prison.

When we do hire someone with that background, providing too high of an initial wage is actually counterproductive. There is value at staring over near minimum wage and proving your desire to work for the future. And then, over time,  receiving raises up to a wage of $10 an hour as one successfully completes the stages of our job training program. We stop raises at $10 an hour so there is incentive to leave our program and transition into a better, self-supporting job in the community.

It's interesting that back in the 1800s almost all of the leading welfare programs had a work component to them. In order to receive aid at the Buffalo Charity Organizational Society, men had to chop wood. The purpose wasn't to take advantage of the individual needing help, but to preserve their dignity...that inherent part of all humans that needs the value of work to preserve human worth. A person's willingness to stick with work, pointed to their openness to do the hard life work necessary to overcome addiction and prison.

Our wage structure works in much the same way.  We think there is something extremely healthy in asking people to start-over near minimum wage and then experience raises over time as the reward of a job well-done. This process reaches its pinnacle each time someone successfully transitions into a prevailing wage job in the community with the skills to succeed over the long haul.

Bud's Warehouse and Belay in the Denver Post

Last month I wrote about Tina Griego's January 8, 2012, column in the Denver Post exploring ex-offender employment issues. That article spoke movingly about the real life dilemmas faced by ex-offenders in today's economy.

A few days ago, Bud's Warehouse's operation manager, Marcus Weaver attended a meeting on ex-offender issues and ended up sharing our organization's story with Ms. Greigo. She stopped by for a visit later in the week and included Bud's in her newest column that continues to explore ex-offender employment issues.

Kudos to Marcus for being so passionate about the Belay mission and many thanks to Tina Griego and The Denver Post for shedding light on this important issue:

"It's heartbreaking, really," says Jim Reiner, executive director of Belay Enterprises. "The No. 1 factor that determines whether ex-offenders will go back to jail is whether they have a job. Many employers aren't willing to be a felon's first employer, but they are willing to be the second. So, we're the first."

I'll leave you with Patrick Stewart, an ex-con working at New Beginnings, Bud's custom woodworking shop. Stewart is 33 and has been out nine years. He'd never built anything before, he tells me. Now he's making beautiful cabinets and wine racks. He's gone from prison to welfare to work. "At one point in my life, I was just empty flesh walking around," he tells me. "Now, I have confidence. Now, I actually have hope."  Denver Post, January 5, 2012.

Read more: Griego: Cuts to ex-cons' job programs cost them and us - The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/griego/ci_19895890#ixzz1ljVRpWHB

Belay Update: A Busy Winter Growing Jobs

It's been an exciting start to the new year as Belay Enterprises strives to create self-sufficient faithventure businesses that provide jobs for individuals rebuilding lives from addiction, homelessness and prison.

Please review the following quick rundown of happenings around Belay and consider supporting our new start-ups with a tax-deductible donation by visiting our online donation page here:

• We're delighted by the successful launch over the last six months of New Beginnings Custom Woodworks, our custom cabinet employment and job training program for ex-offenders. Everything is up and running with sales far beyond our initial projections. We're continuing to expand jobs and training opportunities for ex-offenders as we grow our customers for cabinet-making services.
• Our long dreamed of mattress recycling project has revived in a big way with a developing partnership with a group of entrepreneurs. Expect an announcement very soon of the opening of Colorado's first mattress recycling facility located close to Bud's Warehouse. We expect to be adding 3 employment training jobs for ex-offenders in the next 2 weeks.
• Another business partner of Belay has decided to move ahead with a commercial kitchen business to manufacture several commercial products. We expect to run it out of the Denver jail employing offenders to provide job training and assist in their transition out of jail. There is still much work to be done but we are close to realizing this dream which will create a sizable number of redemptive jobs.
• Bud's Warehouse has enjoyed a great January of sales, the best in years for a traditionally slow month. In addition, Bud's has opened a metal recycling division. We recently negotiated an agreement with a local appliance retailer that should provide 3 semi-loads of working and non-working appliances every month. This translates into more jobs for people rebuilding lives.Unfortunately, we blew an engine in one of our key flatbed trucks.We are seeking the donation of a newer used flatbed truck to help our organization continue to grow. 
• Madison Chandler and Mark Smesrud have joined the Belay team to open a coffee shop to employ homeless youth leaving the streets in the fall.

As you can see, everyone at Belay has been very busy.

I am reminded that we can not run all of these projects on our own. We are always looking to partner with Christ-followers that have a heart to use their business talents to create jobs for people rebuilding lives.

Thanks for your thoughts and prayer. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Purple Door Coffee Welcomed to the Belay Team

I am excited to welcome Mark Smesrud and Madison Chandler to the Belay team as they spearhead the development of Purple Door Coffee to employ young adults leaving homelessness in partnership with Dry Bones Denver.

Over the next few months, they will be raising start-up funding as well as coordinating the numerous activities that need to be undertaken for an early fall opening.

Mark has started sharing about his journey of opening a faithventure business here. I encourage you to check it out for a front row seat to watch this business as mission develop.

Today, he writes about the idea of opening a "just business:"

“It’s just business”. This is a statement people use when someone gets burned. Someone gets the short end of the stick. It’s become a qualifying statement for when someone has treated another individual as a business deal instead of as a human being.

Because of this it seems that business has become something that is incongruent with the Kingdom of God in many people’s minds. Business is viewed as something ugly completely driven by the almighty dollar, and The Almighty certainly can’t have anything to do with it.

Thankfully in recent years the “Business as Mission” movement is gaining some momentum. Business is being utilized as a way to spread the Kingdom. Instead of “It’s just business” it has become “It’s a just business”. A business that recognizes the value and dignity of all humans. While the business may generate revenues and the operators of the business will intentionally do things to generate more income, it is never at the expense of other people’s value and dignity.

Read it all here.

Feel free to contact us if you would like to learn more about this project. And consider making a donation towards Purple Door's start-up expenses by visiting our online donation page.

The Noble Act of Creating Jobs (Kevin Grenier)

The following is a guest post from Kevin Grenier.

It is a common stereotype that corporations are greedy businesses and that truly noble work is done by serving the poor. Mother Teresa isn’t expected in the board room. She’s out on the street giving food to the homeless.

What if we have it all wrong?

What if sustaining the poor is the less noble act?

Maybe, rather than helping the poor make it another day, the real God-honoring activities are those of the businessmen – those people who provide work to us so that we are not poor, but can earn a living. Granted, business can be used for good or ill, just as anything can. But maybe business has the potential to be used for far greater good than mercy could ever hope for. Maybe a business whose goal is to help those who can’t work to learn how to work is a far nobler task than the soup kitchen.

The Bible says that if a man won’t work, we shouldn’t feed him. Most mercy organizations side-step this verse because their clients are incapable of holding a job. What they miss in this verse is that true mercy creates jobs that even the least among us can do. If we simply feed a person, we force him or her to purchase their food at the cost of their dignity and value to society. If we offer them work – even the most basic tasks – we affirm their value and they earn their living.

But don’t be fooled. It takes far more effort to create a job and then help someone get and keep that job than it does to hand out a lunch. I guess the question we each must ask ourselves is whether the homeless and broken in our society are worth the extra effort or not. I’m glad there are organizations that have decided that they are.

Kevin Grenier is a writer and speaker living in Castle Rock, Colorado who blogs at Gathering His People. He has spent over 15 years in inner-city ministry and is a friend of Bud's Warehouse.