Here’s an inspiring story reported on Good Morning America: A software engineer working in New York City befriended a homeless man, trained him in computer coding, and ended up offering him a job. Software engineer Patrick McConlogue told ABC news that he walked past “a homeless guy” everyday on his way to work in lower

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Saffron Strand’s 2013 Homeless Workforce Conference hosted the annual Jesse Curtis Awards for Reducing Homeless on June 18 in Richmond. The Awards are co-sponsored by the Office of the Mayor of the City of Richmond and Mayor Gayle McLaughlin presented the Awards. Jesse Curtis lived into her 90s and died in Richmond, homeless and alone.

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Saffron Strand’s 2013 Conference – “Developing the Homeless Workforce: What Will It Take?” June 17-18 in Richmond — provided professional training and public education focused on getting more homeless and hard-to-employ people back to work. The Conference brought together nationally recognized experts and local Bay Area authorities to concentrate on reducing homelessness through employment. Participants

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Research dating back to the 1970s tracks a variety of employment programs for the “hard-to-employ,” including the homeless and other recipients of public assistance. The record shows only limited success in actually improving long-term employment of participants. The current generation of “transitional employment” programs provide various combinations of paid job training or subsidized temporary employment:

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On Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Saffron Strand presented an evening buffet and forum on “Breaking the Cycle of Chronic Unemployment: How we help people find good jobs and keep them.” More than 50 attended the Community Resources Forum at the Bobby Bowens Progressive Center (1021 Macdonald Ave., Richmond). Thanks so much to Richmond Progressive Alliance for

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Health care providers know that many homeless people — even those with serious health problems who have been unemployed for a long time – harbor a strong, deep-felt desire to re-enter the workforce. Providers can use the desire to work to help their patients. Saffron Strand’s CEO, Yvonne Nair, teamed up with Brian Zralek, Consumer

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Saffron Strand BBQ chefs treated members, friends, and families to savory ribs, hot from the smoking grill, at our second annual “Friends & Family Barbeque” October 14, 2012 at the Seagull Picnic Area of Miller Knox Park in Point Richmond. Nearly 100 attended the fun and fund raising event which Saffron Strand members organized to build

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An Art Show and Panel Discussion on a “Homeless People’s Bill of Rights” took place on October 13, 2012 at the Richmond Art Center in Richmond.  “Hobos to Street People: Artists’ Responses to Homelessness from the New Deal to the Present” included a welcome by Gayle McLaughlin (Mayor, City of Richmond) and featured panelists Art Hazelwood

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During September 19-20, 2012 the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City conducted a national conference on “Future of Workforce Development: Where Research Meets Practice.” One of the breakout sessions — titled “Addressing the Long-Term Unemployed” – included the following introductory note: “The most recent recession and weak recovery have been characterized by historically very high

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Saffron Strand CEO and Executive Director Yvonne Nair has received a Jefferson Award for Public Service for her work in helping the homeless in the San Francisco Bay Area through Saffron Strand.  Yvonne has accepted the Award “in behalf of every person and organization that helps to revitalize the lives and re-engage livelihoods of the

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