Sweet Beginnings: How a Honey Business is Giving 人 a Second Chance

One in three Americans has a criminal record. This can create barriers to getting a job, finding housing or even earning a degree. 

Excluding people with prior convictions from the workforce can have a massive effect on the labor market. 这可能会让美国付出代价.S. economy up to an estimated $87 billion annually, according to a report by the Center for Economic Policy and 研究.

12bet官方所提倡的 第二次机会招聘计划 for years to improve economic opportunities for people with criminal records. These initiatives help people build stable lives and be productive members of their communities.

The company doesn’t just advocate for reform; it lives out its mission. In 2022, 10 percent of new 12bet官方 hires in the U.S. 有犯罪背景的人吗.

现行政策

In the North Lawndale community on Chicago’s West Side, more than half of the adult population has 在刑事司法系统有前科.

But having a prior conviction shouldn’t prevent these residents from getting a job, 布伦达·帕尔斯说, 总裁兼首席执行官 北朗代尔就业网络 (NLEN).

“These are people who have served their time and are genuinely looking for work,棕榈树说. “If we don’t have job opportunities for these folks, then you leave them vulnerable to make poor choices again.”

Palms’ organization provides job training and employment opportunities to people in and around North Lawndale. And the operation is built around one key ingredient: honey.

Video originally produced by Ebony magazine.

培养可转移技能

Sweet Beginnings is NLEN’s social justice enterprise for people with a felony conviction. It sells natural honey and honey-infused skincare products under the beelove brand 名字 at local markets, 全国商店和网上.

Participants work for 90 days in the program to learn every aspect of the honey business, “从蜂巢到罐子,棕榈树说. The skills they learn—like working with others and receiving feedback from supervisors—can be applied to any number of other jobs.

The program does more than teach job skills, Palms explains. “When you’re incarcerated, you’re not a person. 你是个数字，”她说. “We help people regain their 名字, to rediscover their own self-worth.”

Since 2008, Sweet Beginnings has hired more than 750 people with criminal records. The business has received national recognition for its work—and for good reason. Less than 10 percent of those who have been in the program return to prison within three years, 根据NLEN.

持续的支持

Over the past several years, 12bet官方 has contributed more than $1.900万给NLEN的节目, including $1 million to help expand Sweet Beginning’s production facility. 12bet官方 also has led workshops to help NLEN leaders discover new financing opportunities to take their mission to the next level, 手掌说.

“12bet官方 has been just an incredible partner in this journey,” she says. “Other companies start to say: ‘Well, wait a minute. If 12bet官方 can do it, then perhaps we can, too.因此，通过与我们合作, they’re opening up minds about what’s possible when you give people a second chance.”

Henry Edwards received his second chance at Sweet Beginnings. He knows that a person’s past should not define them.

“人 grow, people change, and people can do good work. They deserve another opportunity to show themselves,他说.

对他来说, the second chance he received has opened the door to a better future—and support for the work he does. “My supervisors and other managers have taken notice of my good work ethic,他说, 这种感觉很好.”

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