CTA Partnership with Cleanslate Aimed at Reducing Poverty

Lena Gladney proudly holds up a plaque she received after being named “2019 Intern of the Year” by the nonprofit Cleanslate. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson
Lena Gladney proudly holds up a plaque she received after being named “2019 Intern of the Year” by the nonprofit Cleanslate. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson

CTA Partnership with Cleanslate Aimed at Reducing Poverty

BY WENDELL HUTSON, Contributing Writer

A community effort by the Chicago Transit Authority and the nonprofit Cleanslate is taking aim at reducing poverty by providing job-training skills that hopefully lead to employment opportunities.

Cleanslate is a social enterprise of Cara. And while Cara is the workforce development agency helping individuals with training and coaching, Cleanslate is the enterprise that offers the real work-experience, said Mark Toriski, a spokesman for Cara. The program is designed to work with individuals needing more job-skills and for those with challenges finding employment due to incarceration or other social barriers they may be experiencing.

“Currently, there are 64 interns active. About every five weeks, we will hold an orientation to welcome new members,” said Toriski. “Last year, we had 409 interns come through the program and 109 went on to find permanent employment, and we expect to do the same thing by the end of this year.”

He added that to participate in the program, applicants must be at least 18-years-old, drug free and no convictions for violent crimes, such as rape or murder. And Toriski said a felony conviction would not prohibit applicants from being accepted into the program either. To apply, go online to carachicago.org or call Cara at 312-798-3300.

Lena Gladney, a 49-year-old Hyde Park resident, is among the interns with Cleanslate this year helping to clean outside areas around the CTA’s Red and Purple train stations three to five days a week. Interns also participate in job readiness classes.

“I have been in the program since July and will be with the program until I can find a job,” she said. “I empty trash bins, pick up garbage on the ground and anything else that’s needed.”

Keeping outside areas clean is a family business for Gladney, who said her husband works for the city’s Department of Streets and Sanitation.

“This is what we do,” she jokingly said. “My husband was familiar with the Cleanslate internship program and suggested I apply, so I did.”

Phase One of the CTA’s Red-Purple Modernization Program will completely rebuild the Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn, and Bryn Mawr train stations and all the tracks and support structures for more than a mile adjacent to the stations, said Tammy Chase, a CTA spokeswoman. And according to CTA data, funding for the RPM project will consist of a $957 million and $125 million federal grant, and $622 million in tax-increment financing (TIF) from the city of Chicago and CTA. TIF is a public financing method used by municipalities as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure and other community-improvement projects.

CTA officials said this is the second time it has partnered with Cleanslate. Previously, it partnered with the organization for its Second Chance Program.

“The Second Chance Program is an internal program we have here at the Chicago Transit Authority where Cara assists us in sourcing candidates with non-violent offenses for entry-level employment opportunities at the authority,” explained Chynna Hampton, a senior project manager for the CTA. “Cleanslate provides us interns to help us with cleanup services but they also are providing interns with specialize training specifically entry-level construction training to introduce them to the construction industry.”

If anyone is underemployed or unemployed Gladney said this is the program for you.

The Cleanslate program is an excellent way for anyone underemployed or unemployed to get back on their feet, contends Gladney, who was named the program’s “2019 Intern of the Year.”

Gladney said she would recommend the program to anyone needing job skills, adding, it’s a “good way to learn something new and be connected with employers looking to hire people even if you have a criminal background.”

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