In the News

For media inquiries, please contact [email protected]

Apr 03, 2023   |  By Detroit Free Press

Michigan law should require prisoner ID program, lawmakers say

When Kenneth Nixon left prison in 2021, it took him six months to get his ID and driver's license. Because he didn't have his vital documents, such as a birth certificate, he couldn't open a bank account or get a job.

Read More
Nov 03, 2022   |  By Outlier Media

After waiting three decades, 54-year-old Michigander will vote in first general election

At 54 years old, William Lewis is a first-time voter. It’s not that Lewis wasn’t interested in voting before this election cycle — for more than three decades, he was denied the right to vote because of several felony convictions and a prison sentence for armed robbery. But Lewis, who ...

Read More
Aug 31, 2022   |  By The Detroit News

Opinion: Why companies should hire formerly incarcerated workers like me

I’ve been an information technology support specialist in Detroit for half a year now, and I consider myself lucky because I love my job helping other people solve problems. But it wasn’t easy getting here.

Read More
Jul 22, 2022   |  By WDIV Local 4

Multiple organizations work to clean up flooded basements on Detroit’s east side

It happened over a year ago, but folks on Detroit’s east side still desperately need help cleaning out flooded basements. Thanks to a significant grant, workers were out in the neighborhood Thursday doing just that.

Read More
Jul 19, 2022   |  By Model D Media

New grant to help homeowners clean up basement flood damage

At the top of the year, nonprofit neighborhood organization Jefferson East, Inc. (JEI) announced a new program that would help residents of the East Jefferson corridor repair, replace, and elevate furnaces damaged by basement flooding brought on by the rainstorms of 2021, a program bolstered by a $250,000 grant from ...

Read More
Jul 06, 2022   |  By Michigan Chronicle

JEI Receives $125K to Support Flood-Related Basement Clean-Ups

Jefferson East, Inc. (JEI) and the Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) have received a $125,000 grant from the McGregor Fund to support their partnership in providing emergency support for flooding-related basement clean-ups for low-income households in Detroit.

Read More
Jun 28, 2022   |  By Crain's Detroit

GreenLight Fund exceeds goal in 2nd round of fundraising for anti-poverty programs

GreenLight Fund Detroit, launched to bring to the region programs with proven success in lifting people out of poverty, has completed a second round of funding.

Read More
Mar 24, 2022   |  By Detroit Free Press

Opinion: Little-known policy penalizes returning citizens training for new jobs

As more than 10,000 Michiganders prepare to rejoin their communities this year, they will face steeper barriers to rebuilding their lives because of a little-known policy that penalizes them for pursuing critical job skills and paid training that aligns with their career dreams.

Read More
Sep 09, 2021   |  By Crains Detroit

GreenLight Fund Detroit seeks second-round funding for efforts to improve lives of Detroiters in poverty

Boston-based GreenLight Fund announced its intent to come to Detroit in 2016 and made its first "investment" or grant of $600,000 in 2018 to New York-based Center for Employment Opportunities to bring its proven model for getting returning residents into jobs to Detroit. Since then, the group has employed 25 ...

Read More
Sep 29, 2020   |  By Detroit Free Press

Michigan to end ban on food stamps for people with drug convictions

Michiganders with two or more felony drug convictions will no longer be banned for life from receiving food stamps under a change in the state budget.

Read More
Jul 31, 2020   |  By Detroit Free Press

Nonprofits offer stimulus to Detroiters returning home from prison, jail during COVID-19

Nonprofits that help individuals re-enter society after incarceration are providing up to $2,250 to hundreds of Detroiters who need assistance during the coronavirus pandemic. The Center for Employment Opportunities, a national nonprofit with an office in Detroit, is spearheading the Returning Citizens Stimulus for formerly incarcerated people and others involved ...

Read More
Jun 01, 2020   |  By Detroit Free Press

Groups want Whitmer to end lifetime ban on food stamps for people with drug convictions

A coalition of organizations is calling on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and legislative leaders to end a longtime policy that permanently bans Michiganders from receiving food stamps if they have two or more felony drug convictions.Advocates argue the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services policy that disqualifies people from Supplemental ...

Read More
Dec 20, 2019   |  By The Returning Citizen

[PODCAST] Center for Employment Opportunities: Providing jobs as a launchpad

The Returning Citizens interviews CEO Detroit. Finding a job can be a daunting task for returning citizens for all types of reasons-- gaps in work experience, lack of resources, stigma, and so much more. In this episode, we sit down with a team that’s in the trenches every day, hitting ...

Read More