Flintridge Centers Apprenticeship Provides Pathways Out of Poverty

This past month Flintridge Center in Pasadena California graduated its 40th cohort of apprentices a significant moment for the organization dedicated to helping formerly incarcerated and other individuals impacted by the criminal justice system avoid reincarnation through apprenticeship programs.

The center was founded in 2007 to help prepare and train participating members for careers in the union construction trades. The program comes in partnership with the Los Angeles/ Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. This most recent cohort is notable for half of the graduating students being women or from an underrepresented group in construction.

Even throughout the initial start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Flintridge worked to provide ways for their participants to find opportunities. With work opportunities needed more urgently than ever before, Flintridge Center staff resumed a hybrid model of the program with adjustments to preserve the health of participants and staff.

“And they mention that they just had another baby, that they bought another car, that they rented an apartment or that they moved out of their parent's place. That’s the stuff that really motivates me. “We’re doing something for these people and making changes in their lives.”

Andy Alvarez, Instructor and Former Participant at Flintridge Center

Flintridge Center’s Apprenticeship Preparation Program works to help formerly incarcerated and gang-impacted individuals for careers in union construction trades. The APP combines workforce development with trauma-informed care to create life-changing opportunities. Flintridge picked the construction industry as their focus in an attempt to ensure their apprentices a living wage, minimal discrimination based on background, and provide opportunities for career advancement.

Program graduates have gone on to see significant success as former participants have seen an employment rate of 70% and a reincarceration rate of 10% compared to the 47% reincarceration rate in Los Angeles County. The program goes on to span over 10 weeks where students will go on to learn everything they need to secure employment, prepare for the physical rigor and demands of the job, as well as take classes in math relating to the construction fields.