Frontier Co-Op, an organic food manufacturer in Iowa, recently began working with community organizations to recruit unhoused workers, creating job opportunities while also tapping into a potentially underutilized workforce.
Partnership approach. Megan Schulte, VP of human resources at Frontier Co-Op, told HR Brew that the company’s Breaking Down Barriers program works with a local homeless services organization to hire apprentices, starting the workers as contractors in an apprenticeship program.
Research from the NAEH has found that transportation is one of the barriers to good attendance for unhoused workers, so Frontier Co-Op provides shuttles to its manufacturing facility three times a day, five days a week. Additionally, the company offers lockers or a locked conference room where workers can safely store their belongings. “Many times, they want to bring their belongings with them. And that’s because they’ve lost everything else,” Schulte explained.
Have more mobility news that we should be reading and sharing? Let us know! Reach out to Sage Kashner (kashner@ctaa.org).
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