Why Don't They Just Get a Job?: One Couple's Mission to End Poverty in Their Community

Retired corporate suburbanites Liane and Dave Phillips didn't set out to create the most succesful—and award-winning—poverty to economic self-sufficiency program in the nation. They weren't trying to save the government hundreds of millions of dollars in welfare and other assistance. They simply chose to put their prodigious energies and talents to the task of helping the poor of Cincinnati find economically self-sustaining jobs—and keep them.

Those efforts became Cincinnati Works, a nonprofit, member-based organization hailed by businesses, agencies, communities, funders, and other nonprofits as the most revolutionary and repeatable program anywhere. The model is now being considered by many communities across the country as the best-of-the-best-practices for creating win-win solutions for people in poverty and for businesses that need qualified entry-level workers.

A few highlights of the program:

An 80+% job retention rate versus 20-25% for government funded programs

Per person costs a fraction of other programs that don't provide retention follow-up

Businesses save thousands of dollars in retention costs by hiring members

Thousands of individuals moved from poverty to self-sufficiency through work

Millions of tax dollars saved in public assistance and welfare programs

Recipient of numerous awards and recognition by The Harvard Business Review