June 21, 2004
More than a job | Lewiston-based Faithworks offers flexible schedules and lots of support to people with barriers to traditional employment
By Sean Donahue
Inside a Lewiston mill once home to mechanical looms and other machinery that symbolized the 19th-century triumph of industry over individual handiwork, Faithworks is recapturing the value of a hands-on approach ˆ even in a high-volume business. Among the hundreds of jobs it performs each year, the contract assembly and packaging operation ships out about 225,000 "Maine Invites You" travel guides for the Maine Tourism Association; sorts and boxes by hand five million greeting cards for Springvale-based Renaissance Greeting Cards; cuts and collates more than 80 million small paper calendars for Lewiston-based Geiger Bros.
While that output is impressive, Faithworks' primary measure of success is on a smaller, human scale: the impact it has on the lives of the people who help assemble and ship those millions of items. Faithworks' mission is to employ individuals with significant barriers to traditional employment ˆ single parents with no access to child care, elderly displaced factory workers, people with substance abuse problems or prison records and those with little education. In some cases, Faithworks offers a temporary position, a chance to earn a paycheck and get back on track; in others, Faithworks provides a place for long-term employment. And since its founding in 1996, Faithworks increasingly has offered an array of social services, such as career training, computer classes and housing assistance, to keep those workers and others in the community from falling back into desperate situations.
"When we originally started Faithworks, we just wanted to employ as many people as we possibly could, regardless if it was for a day or a week ˆ any sort of money in their pockets was going to help," says executive director Paul Rubin. "As we got to know the employees and some of their life experiences, we realized we needed to try to give them more than just a job."
Today, Faithworks is the parent organization of both the bustling packaging business ˆ which has employed more than 3,000 people since it was founded in 1996; it was renamed Outsourceworks in 2002 ˆ as well as its Resourceworks division, which provides job training and partners with 65 different social services agencies such as Head Start and local adult education providers to provide its support programs. Since 2000, when Faithworks began compiling statistics on its social services usage, about 600 individuals have taken advantage of the organization's programs. That record helped Faithworks earn this year's Eagle Feather award for nonprofit organizations from Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility.
In order to support that social mission, Faithworks is looking to increase the power and market share of its Outsourceworks business. In 2003, the operation generated about $1.2 million in revenues, which Rubin expects to grow to $1.7 million at the end of this year. By 2005, Rubin would like Outsourceworks to be a $3.5 million operation, employing 150 people full-time; to that end, he recently hired a sales manager to develop long-term contracts with large clients, following the model of the organization's six-year relationship with Geiger Bros. That growth would in turn help Faithworks further offset the costs required to run its social programs. "This is a nonprofit running a successful business," says Rubin. "We have been nominated before for the Eagle Feather awardˆ [but] this is the first year we've won. It really recognizes that we are having some success in creating this model."
Piecework with a conscience
Faithworks began 1996, when Rev. William Baxter of Lewiston's Trinity Episcopal Church was looking for ways to help disadvantaged members of his community find work. The initial effort, housed in the basement of the church and known as Project Workshop, quickly outgrew its space, and in 1997 moved to its current mill space, where it was renamed Faithworks.
What makes Faithworks' employment model unique, and a good match for its workforce, is that it provides a flexible, non-restrictive workplace. Individuals set their own schedules, working as many or as few days a week as they like, for as many or as few hours as they need to. That way, they don't have to worry about leaving work to care for sick children. Likewise, substance abusers who have a setback won't be fired ˆ they're welcome to return to work whenever they're ready.
In order to make that model work, Outsourceworks pays its employees by the piece. And though piecework is often associated with exploitative working conditions, Outsourceworks has carefully designed its per-unit pay scale to ensure that even the slowest worker makes about $8 an hour, according to Rubin. Faster workers can make $13-$14 per hour. The organization also has a safety committee that oversees workplace safety programs such as two stretch periods per day and mandatory lunch breaks. Those measures have helped Outsourceworks maintain a record of zero lost-time injuries for the last three years.
Besides good wages and flexible schedules, Faithworks stands out from other employers with its education and job training offerings. On average, Faithworks offers four to six classes per month on career or life skills, ranging from resume writing and computer training to a basic household financial management workshop. Classes tend to be very small, about two to four people at a time, and Faithworks' other social services, such as housing assistance, are even more individualized. The reason for its nearly one-on-one approach is that Faithworks aims to help individuals achieve even a small success in overcoming barriers that may have seemed insurmountable ˆ thereby, its staffers hope, setting the stage for further progress. "We see a lot of people who have experienced many setbacks in their past," says Mary Kozicki-LaFontaine, Faithworks' training and education coordinator. "We need to make sure [when they come here] they feel like they're not failing again, but succeeding."
Administering those social programs, of course, requires funding. While income from Outsourceworks supports about 10% of Faithworks' $300,000 operating budget for social programs, the remainder must come through grants from private foundations, the federal government and other sources. For Faithworks, like most nonprofits, maintaining sufficient funding remains one of its biggest challenges. "In the nonprofit world, you never know who your next funder is going to be," says Rubin.
Given the organization's goal to add even more social programs, Rubin expects to always need outside grants to help fund Faithworks' operations. But by growing Outsourceworks' business, Rubin hopes to increase the percentage that the business can contribute to Faithworks' operating budget. His ultimate goal is to create a $5 million-$10 million operation that employs more than 150 people full-time and 300-500 part-time. To help achieve that goal, Faithworks is beginning to look for a new location, since the old mill doesn't meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines that would allow Outsourceworks to package food and pharmaceutical products ˆ a market Rubin would like to begin serving.
Just as Rubin sees untapped opportunities for Outsourceworks' contract assembly services, though, he recognizes unmet needs for the jobs the organization can provide. For all the organization's growth, in many ways it is still driven by its original objective of employing as many people as possible. "I'm taking 20 to 30 applications a day, and I don't have enough work for all these people," says Rubin. "If I had enough work here and I were to run two shifts, I could have 500 or 550 people."
While that output is impressive, Faithworks' primary measure of success is on a smaller, human scale: the impact it has on the lives of the people who help assemble and ship those millions of items. Faithworks' mission is to employ individuals with significant barriers to traditional employment ˆ single parents with no access to child care, elderly displaced factory workers, people with substance abuse problems or prison records and those with little education. In some cases, Faithworks offers a temporary position, a chance to earn a paycheck and get back on track; in others, Faithworks provides a place for long-term employment. And since its founding in 1996, Faithworks increasingly has offered an array of social services, such as career training, computer classes and housing assistance, to keep those workers and others in the community from falling back into desperate situations.
"When we originally started Faithworks, we just wanted to employ as many people as we possibly could, regardless if it was for a day or a week ˆ any sort of money in their pockets was going to help," says executive director Paul Rubin. "As we got to know the employees and some of their life experiences, we realized we needed to try to give them more than just a job."
Today, Faithworks is the parent organization of both the bustling packaging business ˆ which has employed more than 3,000 people since it was founded in 1996; it was renamed Outsourceworks in 2002 ˆ as well as its Resourceworks division, which provides job training and partners with 65 different social services agencies such as Head Start and local adult education providers to provide its support programs. Since 2000, when Faithworks began compiling statistics on its social services usage, about 600 individuals have taken advantage of the organization's programs. That record helped Faithworks earn this year's Eagle Feather award for nonprofit organizations from Maine Businesses for Social Responsibility.
In order to support that social mission, Faithworks is looking to increase the power and market share of its Outsourceworks business. In 2003, the operation generated about $1.2 million in revenues, which Rubin expects to grow to $1.7 million at the end of this year. By 2005, Rubin would like Outsourceworks to be a $3.5 million operation, employing 150 people full-time; to that end, he recently hired a sales manager to develop long-term contracts with large clients, following the model of the organization's six-year relationship with Geiger Bros. That growth would in turn help Faithworks further offset the costs required to run its social programs. "This is a nonprofit running a successful business," says Rubin. "We have been nominated before for the Eagle Feather awardˆ [but] this is the first year we've won. It really recognizes that we are having some success in creating this model."
Piecework with a conscience
Faithworks began 1996, when Rev. William Baxter of Lewiston's Trinity Episcopal Church was looking for ways to help disadvantaged members of his community find work. The initial effort, housed in the basement of the church and known as Project Workshop, quickly outgrew its space, and in 1997 moved to its current mill space, where it was renamed Faithworks.
What makes Faithworks' employment model unique, and a good match for its workforce, is that it provides a flexible, non-restrictive workplace. Individuals set their own schedules, working as many or as few days a week as they like, for as many or as few hours as they need to. That way, they don't have to worry about leaving work to care for sick children. Likewise, substance abusers who have a setback won't be fired ˆ they're welcome to return to work whenever they're ready.
In order to make that model work, Outsourceworks pays its employees by the piece. And though piecework is often associated with exploitative working conditions, Outsourceworks has carefully designed its per-unit pay scale to ensure that even the slowest worker makes about $8 an hour, according to Rubin. Faster workers can make $13-$14 per hour. The organization also has a safety committee that oversees workplace safety programs such as two stretch periods per day and mandatory lunch breaks. Those measures have helped Outsourceworks maintain a record of zero lost-time injuries for the last three years.
Besides good wages and flexible schedules, Faithworks stands out from other employers with its education and job training offerings. On average, Faithworks offers four to six classes per month on career or life skills, ranging from resume writing and computer training to a basic household financial management workshop. Classes tend to be very small, about two to four people at a time, and Faithworks' other social services, such as housing assistance, are even more individualized. The reason for its nearly one-on-one approach is that Faithworks aims to help individuals achieve even a small success in overcoming barriers that may have seemed insurmountable ˆ thereby, its staffers hope, setting the stage for further progress. "We see a lot of people who have experienced many setbacks in their past," says Mary Kozicki-LaFontaine, Faithworks' training and education coordinator. "We need to make sure [when they come here] they feel like they're not failing again, but succeeding."
Administering those social programs, of course, requires funding. While income from Outsourceworks supports about 10% of Faithworks' $300,000 operating budget for social programs, the remainder must come through grants from private foundations, the federal government and other sources. For Faithworks, like most nonprofits, maintaining sufficient funding remains one of its biggest challenges. "In the nonprofit world, you never know who your next funder is going to be," says Rubin.
Given the organization's goal to add even more social programs, Rubin expects to always need outside grants to help fund Faithworks' operations. But by growing Outsourceworks' business, Rubin hopes to increase the percentage that the business can contribute to Faithworks' operating budget. His ultimate goal is to create a $5 million-$10 million operation that employs more than 150 people full-time and 300-500 part-time. To help achieve that goal, Faithworks is beginning to look for a new location, since the old mill doesn't meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines that would allow Outsourceworks to package food and pharmaceutical products ˆ a market Rubin would like to begin serving.
Just as Rubin sees untapped opportunities for Outsourceworks' contract assembly services, though, he recognizes unmet needs for the jobs the organization can provide. For all the organization's growth, in many ways it is still driven by its original objective of employing as many people as possible. "I'm taking 20 to 30 applications a day, and I don't have enough work for all these people," says Rubin. "If I had enough work here and I were to run two shifts, I could have 500 or 550 people."
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