“A job gives someone a chance to change their life, but you’ve got to give someone a chance to get a job,” shared Caesar, a graduate of the New Roads to Second Chances program, sponsored by Caltrans and the City of Los Angeles and managed by Chrysalis.
Caesar was referred to Chrysalis by Amity Foundation, the treatment center to which he was paroled after serving eight years in the criminal justice system. At Chrysalis, he “felt like [he] had an opportunity to succeed,” but he also knew that the gaps in his resume from his time in prison would make the job search difficult.
Through New Roads to Second Chances, he began a transitional job beautifying Los Angeles’ freeways while attending workshops, support groups, and practice interviews at Chrysalis. With his Employment Specialist, he updated his resume to include this transitional job and began his search for an outside job.
Today, Caesar works full-time at a construction company. He reflects that “having a transitional job helped set me up for this. The resources I had at Chrysalis and through the Roads program helped me navigate the application process for other jobs… this is giving me options for my future.”
Caesar is one of the 98 participants of New Roads to Second Chances who have found outside employment since the program began in November 2016. Since its launch, 264 formerly incarcerated men and women have joined the program and 123,367 bags of trash have been collected. During this three year contract between Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Reentry and Caltrans, more than 1,000 formerly incarcerated individuals will be provided transitional employment, job training, job placement assistance, and other resources that will help them on their pathway to self-sufficiency.
“People shouldn’t be defined by the past or their circumstances — we need to support them with a mind toward the future,” said Mayor Garcetti. “I’m going to keep pushing to make sure that every Angeleno has the opportunity to get good-paying jobs and build lasting careers.”