Network2Work

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Network2Work is a non-profit organization based out of Charlottesville founded in 2014 by Ridge Schuyler as part of the Charlottesville Works Initiative. The organization's mission is to equip communities to lift people out of poverty by connecting them with the skills and resources they need to be able to secure family-sustaining employment.

The idea for the Network2Work program began with the Greater Charlottesville Area Development Corporation (GCADC), who issued the Orange Dot Report in 2011 to research issues and possible solutions to improve family self-sufficiency in Charlottesville, VA. The report indicated that 29% of the families living in Charlottesville's city did not earn enough to provide for their basic needs and the costs associated with working—childcare and transportation. The report outlined some potential solutions for addressing the challenge.

Overview

Network2Work is a community-based job seeker network started in the greater Charlottesville area and now in several of Virginia's Workforce Development regions. including the Richmond Capital, Crater Area, and Shenandoah Valley regions. Network2Work takes a proactive approach to workforce development by leveraging three community-based networks—an Employer Network, Provider Network, and Job Seeker Network—to connect job seekers with the skills and resources they need to find employment despite barriers they may face, such as a lack of childcare, food security, transportation, or other necessities.

Network2Work works with employers to post jobs with family-sustaining wages through an app-based database. Network2Work then reaches out to community-based advocate connectors, well-respected individuals at the center of social networks in their neighborhoods, local organizations, schools, places of worship, and immigrant communities. Advocate connectors help identify and refer job seekers they believe will be a good match for the available opportunities to the Network2Work program.

Once enrolled in the program, Network2Work enrollment specialists help job seekers chart a pathway to securing a job by tapping into work skills, life management, health resources, and additional wraparound supports through a network of nonprofit organizations and local human services agencies. This innovative, community-based framework helps families become self-sufficient by identifying employment opportunities within their reach and positioning them to secure and excel in those jobs.

History[1]

In 1979, the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce created the Greater Charlottesville Area Development Corporation “to reduce unemployment, underemployment and eliminate poverty.”

In September 2011, the Greater Charlottesville Area Development Corporation issued the Orange Dot Report, which found that 29 percent of the families living in the city of Charlottesville did not earn enough to provide their basic needs and the costs associated with working—childcare and transportation. In addition to scoping the challenge, the Orange Dot Report articulated some potential solutions for addressing the challenge.

In May 2013, the Greater Charlottesville Area Development Corporation hired Ridge Schuyler, co-author of the Orange Dot Report, as Director of the Charlottesville Works Initiative to continue to develop and implement the ideas from the report.

Following extensive meetings with community partners, the Charlottesville Works Initiative developed a framework for identifying and supporting those who had been left behind in our economy and connecting them to quality jobs. In October 2014, the Charlottesville Works Initiative began serving its first ten job-seekers.

In 2015, the Charlottesville Works Initiative released the Orange Dot Report 2.0, which found that 17% of the families of Charlottesville and Albemarle county (over 5,000 families) were not earning enough income to be self-sufficient. The Orange Dot Report 2.0 also included a comprehensive implementation plan to address this challenge.

In April 2016, the Charlottesville Works Initiative became a partnership between the Charlottesville Regional Chamber of Commerce and Piedmont Virginia Community College (PVCC) and established PVCC’s newly created Division of Community Self-Sufficiency Programs. The partnership expanded the capacity to refine and implement the plan to create more opportunities for families in our community to achieve self-sufficiency.

In 2017, PVCC's Community Self-Sufficiency Programs began a partnership with Tech Dynamism, a local technology firm, to develop a custom software solution to help administer and streamline the program's operations. Launched in Fall 2017, the Network2Work technology platform is designed to bridge the needs of the job seeker with the services of local providers, and the support of the Job Seeker Network. This innovative software allowed PVCC's Community Self-Sufficiency Programs to expand the number of students served to 448, a 97% increase over a 12 month period and continues to be a core tool that enables the program's continued success today.

On October 3rd, 2018 the Orange Dot Report 3.0 was released, expanding its focus from city of Charlottesville & Albemarle, to also include the counties of Greene, Louisa, Fluvanna, Buckingham & Nelson. The findings in this report discovered "12,024 families (19%) do not make enough money to afford the essentials of life- food, shelter, clothing and utilities- and the added costs associated with working- childcare and transportation." As a solution, Orange Dot 3.0 identifies 8 key ingredients needed to lift an individual out of poverty, they are: Jobs, Job Information, A Job Seeker Network, Job-Seeker Assessment, Ongoing support, Resource Providers, Coordination & Quality Control.

On January 20, 2021, Network2Work released the Orange Dot Report 4.0. The findings show that nearly one out of every five families in the region (17%) don't earn enough to meet their basic needs. Most of these are working families, but the labor of those workers is simply not valued. The report further notes that the struggle is not equally shared: 35% of black families in the region make less than $35,000/year, compared to 14% of white families. Network2Work directly addresses this challenge by identifying struggling families through our Job Seeker Network, connecting them to quality jobs through our Employer Network, and supporting them through our Provider Network.

In 2021, Virginia's Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I allocated funds to Network2Work to expand the program state-wide. The initial effort aimed to pilot the program across 4 Local Workforce Development Areas (LWDAs), including the Charlottesville Region, Shenandoah Valley, Hampton Roads, and the Richmond Region.[2][3]

On October 27, 2022, Network2Work released the Orange Dot Report 5.0.  This new report shows that we have reduced the number of struggling families by 25% since the publication of the first Orange Dot Report in 2011. There are still too many families —9,413—who don't yet feel that progress, and we need to remain focused on them, but it's heartening to see that there has been significant improvement since 2011.

In October 2024, Network2Work celebrated it's 10 Year Anniversary at PVCC's Bolick Advanced Technology and Student Success Center. The celebration also coincided with the release of the Orange Dot Report 6.0, which created in partnership with The UVA Equity Center.[4][5]

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