Workforce Training

Creating jobs and changing lives.

RecycleForce is a prime example of how social concerns can be blended together resulting in broader positive community impact.

With revenue generated from our recycling business, RecycleForce helps formerly incarcerated individuals rebuild their lives through on-the-job and classroom training, social supports and job placement.

Breaking Down the Barriers to Employment

Ex-offenders have the odds stacked against them upon their release. Most have no job and no home to return to. Without these foundational elements, the rate of reoffending and returning to the criminal justice system is incredibly high—up to 50% in Indianapolis/Marion County.

RecycleForce helps ex-offenders break down the barriers to employment by providing transitional jobs for up to six months, as well as comprehensive services designed to get their lives back on track. The RecycleForce model offers program participants an integrated focus on jobs skills, character development and personal counseling. This “wrap-around” approach greatly increases the chance of sustained future employment and decreases the instances of re-offending.

Facilitating Successful Transitions

The RecycleForce program extends well beyond the six-month transitional job opportunity. By working with industry partners and employers committed to hiring ex-offenders, RecycleForce helps facilitate the transition for program participants from temporary work to full-time, gainful employment.

Since 2006, RecycleForce has employed nearly 1200 men and women, providing industry-recognized training and certification, on-the-job training and job placement services. RecycleForce employees also have access to and participate in: professional and peer mentoring; high school equivalency and literacy tutoring; earning Ivy Tech college credits; assistance with housing and driver’s license reinstatement; substance abuse and mental health counseling; tax preparation, budgeting, and financial literacy training.