BECOME AN AFFILIATE

Build the pathway. Break the cycle.

Partner With Us

For organizations that are seeking a model to move people experiencing poverty to self-sufficiency, Cara Plus provides hands-on assistance, tools, and support to help them develop a workforce development program based on Cara’s method, customized to their context, population, and existing model. Successful partners typically serve adults affected by poverty that face barriers to employment and have a demonstrated track record of direct service and partnerships in their communities.

Through affiliation, we co-create a model that includes:

EFFECTIVE RECRUITMENT

We build job seeker interest and engagement tailored to their circumstances and career aspirations.

SOCIO-EMOTIONAL TRAINING

We blend personal and professional training in a simulated workplace environment to ready job seekers for employment.

STRONG EMPLOYER RELATIONSHIPS

We develop deep relationships with local employers to help job seekers find right-fit roles they can retain and grow in.

LONG-TERM RETENTION

We implement a coaching model that yields 70%+, same-firm, one-year retention rates and advancement.

ONGOING LEARNING & SUPPORT

We provide ongoing resources and assistance to help you adapt and grow your program over time.

Our Process

We take a descriptive vs. prescriptive approach to allow affiliates to take what works, integrate it into their own services, and tailor it to their community’s needs.

Due Diligence

Our team will spend three to four months getting to know you to assess a potential partnership fit. In doing so we look at:

Local ecosystem and need
Vision and alignment
Operational capacity and leadership
History of successful partnerships
Infrastructure

Co-Creation

If both sides say “yes,” we move into an eight- to nine-month development phase, where we work together to understand the program and population needs, where and how the workforce component will fit within the existing model, the program elements that need to be adapted, the staffing model and training needs, and how it will be communicated internally and externally through change management.

Program Implementation

Once the program is launched, it is completely owned and operated by the affiliate partner, with ongoing support from Cara Plus. As the program experiments with new ideas and runs into new challenges, Cara Plus provides the support, resources, and tools they need—and connection to other affiliates—to help each site learn from one another.

Our affiliates in action

Cara Plus: How We Create an Affiliate Partnership

Cara Plus provides hands-on assistance, tools, and support to help organizations develop a workforce development program based on a proven model – customized for their context and population needs. Learn more about Cara’s affiliation partnership model with Atlanta Mission here.

Cara Plus: How We Create an Affiliate Partnership

LSSI Works: Impacting Individuals

LSSI Works not only impacts individuals and their families, but also the Greater Fort Wayne community. In this video, meet just a few of their graduates.

Our Affiliates

Lutheran Social Services of Indiana

In 2015, Lutheran Social Services of Indiana (LSSI) decided to augment its social service offerings with a workforce development program to help its participants find gainful employment in and around Fort Wayne, Indiana. One year later, LSSI launched LSSI Works, a job training program based on Cara’s service delivery model designed to help individuals get and keep good jobs. Today, more than 150 people have secured gainful employment, and 75% of graduates have retained employment at the same firm for at least one year.

Learn More

Atlanta Mission

Atlanta Mission is a multi-facility nonprofit organization that annually serves more than 8,000 members of Metro Atlanta’s homeless population by providing emergency shelter, rehab and recovery services, vocational training, services, and transitional housing. In 2019, Atlanta Mission launched its workforce development program, Atlanta Mission @Work, based on Cara’s service delivery model. Today, they serve over 100 people, have landed over 30 jobs, and 83% of their participants have retained their jobs for at least one year.

Learn More

Partner with Us

Interested in affiliation? We’d love to chat!

JOIN OUR NEXT LAB