Through the Jobs for Life program in Chattanooga, TN, inner-city residents can escape chronic joblessness, recurring poverty and lifelong hopelessness.

Jobs for Life gives its participants the tools and support necessary to excel at a career, building a more stable life and community. Many of the program’s participants are considered to be in the category of “hardest to serve,” with a wide diversity in unstable situations, including homelessness, histories of substance abuse, and criminal records.

Jobs for Life graduates overcome many of the obstacles that typically impede success, and they quickly flourish as stable members of their communities, forming the bedrock for future neighborhood transformation.

How It Works

Jobs for Life is a seven-week, soft skills job training class that lifts our neediest neighbors from dependency to self-sufficiency. Our graduates become model employees at many local businesses.

The program inspires, guides, and equips participants as they prepare to find and keep steady employment. The program is unique in that it does these things in an atmosphere that builds relationships and community; Hope for the Inner City firmly believes that real and lasting change can only come through caring Christian relationships.

Included in Jobs for Life is the Faith and Finances curriculum, GED training and testing, and a computer literacy class to aid participants in their job searches.

Each Jobs for Life student is matched with a champion, a mentor or group of mentors, who provides the student with support through the class and their first year of employment. Local business partners serve as visiting speakers; volunteer mentors help to lead small group discussions; and counselors help students overcome emotional roadblocks. Together, these volunteers and partners form the backbone of Jobs for Life’s success.