Boaz and Ruth: Rebuilding Lives while Rebuilding a Community

-
In Highlands Park, one of Richmond, Virginia’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods, Boaz and Ruth, Inc. has been operating six faith venture businesses to employ and train ex-offenders transitioning back into the community while helping to economically rebuild the neighborhood.

This exciting organization operates Firehouse Café and Catering, Sunny Days Clothing Thrift, Parable Furniture Restoration, Harvest Thrift Furniture, Mountain Movers, and Boaz and Ruth Estate Sales Services.

Central to the organizations approach is its trademarked RestoreCorps philosophy. From their website:

When someone is released from prison, a decent job, a safe home and healthy relationships are hard to come by. Add to these challenges of re-entry the fact that individuals often return to communities weighed down by the very problems and issues that help spawn crime and it is easy to understand the vicious cycle of recidivism. It is difficult to sustain long-term individual change without changing the community as well. That's what makes RestoreCorpsTM so unique.

Planted in the center of Highland Park, one of Richmond, Virginia's most troubled areas, the mission of Boaz Ruth's RestoreCorps is to rebuild lives and communities through relationships, training, transitional jobs, and economic revitalization.
Three key strategies of RestoreCorps:
• Boaz & Ruth rebuilds lives of formerly incarcerated men and women through a transitional jobs and training program.
• Boaz &Ruth empowers the physically blighted commercial corridor of Highland Park by restoring buildings, incubating and operating businesses, and providing jobs.
• Boaz & Ruth connects Highland Park and our program participants to the wider Richmond community through activities that bridge racial, economic, and geographic barriers

For more information about Boaz and Ruth, email them at info@boazandruth.com or call them at (804) 329-4900.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Accidental Janitorial Company: Freedom Cleaning Services

-
Sometimes opportunity finds you. In 2003, Cherry Hills Community Church called Baby Bud's Director Dianne Sager with a question. The recovery organization that had been cleaning their facility had just closed and Cherry Hills needed a new partner. Would Baby Bud's be interested in cleaning the school at Cherry Hills? Normally a retail baby store would think twice about committing to a job completely unrelated to its core business. But Dianne had 20 years of experience managing a janitorial company prior to Baby Buds. She saw this as a new opportunity to employ more single moms. Within a couple of weeks, Baby Bud's added five single moms for a cleaning crew and Freedom Cleaning Services was born. Within a year, the business had grown to employ ten women with several other churches and commercial businesses as clients. One of the challenges to any business start-up is maintaining the focus on your core business when other opportunities arise. Sometimes it's good to pursue...
Read more

Opportunity Knocks at Belay's New Beginnings

-
Image
If an ex-offender finds a job upon exiting prison, research shows that his or her chances of going back to jail are significantly reduced saving the $50,000 a year it costs a state to incarcerate an individual. With that in mind, Belay Enterprises' latest start-up New Beginnings Custom Woodworks employs and job-trains ex-offenders like Patrick Stewart in a faith-based cabinet shop venture t hat was recently profiled on 9News and in the Denver Post . "I got out of jail 9 years ago, but was unable to find a job because of my past offense," Patrick says. "It was only when New Beginnings was willing to take a chance on me was I able to get off welfare and start supporting my family."  Before starting at New Beginnings, Patrick had never built anything before. Now he's become an expert in crafting beautiful custom cabinets. "At one point in my life, I was just empty flesh walking around," he told the Denver Post , "Now, I have ...
Read more

For a long time there has been a hole in international development and business as mission in the area of sales training.

-
I was excited to be introduced to the Whitten & Roy Partnership recently over lunch by one of its consultants. There are so many great organizations implementing ideas in the developing world that are not realizing their full marketing potential because of a lack of training in sales tactics or a sub-par sales plan. I've had many long conversations with a sales professional friend discussing the need for high-quality help in this area. A well thought out sales approach in developing communities can even be a force for bringing about systematic change in disadvantaged communities: This company is redefining sales tactics for the base of the pyramid SAN FRANCISCO — Scott Roy, co-founder of an international sales consultancy, was doing research for a potential client in Cambodia when he heard about a sales tactic he found appalling. A team tasked with selling toilets to families would roll into villages with a set of latrine components. In order to close th...
Read more