The Hope Program works with some of Brooklyn's most hard-to-serve clients: 55% are without a high school diploma, 58% are former addicts and 66% are in shelters.

Offering an intensive 12-week work readiness course followed by a supervised internship and job placement assistance, the Program has received substantial support from the Brooklyn Community Foundation to provide clients with the skills they need to get a good job and remain employed. 

In 2009, Hope will serve nearly 700 adults:  200 in the work readiness program and the others in job placement. Its goals are high: it aims to maintain a 70% completion rate and 75% job placement rate with at least 50% of the graduates in jobs with benefits.

With 25% of the Brooklyn's residents living under the poverty line and elevated unemployment rates among low-income residents who lack education, skills and work histories, the Community Development Fund helps support essential and effective work training programs so that Brooklyn's people have a better opportunity to succeed.