Forge City Works
Forge City Works serves people in the Hartford community who are unemployed and face barriers to employment by providing job training in the food and hospitality industry to help them achieve sustainable careers.
This past spring through a series of workshops with CTOP, Forge City Works developed a theory of change that refined its mission, narrowed its target population, clarified a progressive series of outcomes, and articulated a robust multi-stage program design that will be implemented in full over the next several years. Under the umbrella of its nonprofit, the organization operates a restaurant, Fire by Forge, along with a catering business as well as a grocery planned to open by the end of the year. These social enterprises provide a source of revenue for the nonprofit while also providing the primary practice arena for trainees to cultivate the soft and hard skills needed to succeed in employment, with those skills also reinforced in a classroom and lab setting within which trainees earn key certifications. Over the course of their journey with Forge City Works, trainees work one-on-one with a case manager and job training coach who provide support in overcoming obstacles while setting and working toward goals. Following job placement, Forge City Works continues to provide ongoing job development coaching as well as additional professional development opportunities to support trainees in succeeding and growing in their careers.
Collaborating with CTOP is helping us make a profound impact on disconnected youth in our community. CTOP’s dedication to reengaging and empowering these young individuals, and strong focus on data-driven evaluation, has already yielded tangible results.
- Ben Dubow, Executive Director