Our Programs
The Core of What We Do
We have built our organization on 4 Core Principles. From each of these principals, we have engineered educational solutions that we provide known as our 5 Core Academies. Read on for more information.
CORE PRINCIPLE #1
Restorative
Justice
The repair of harm done by acts of crime to victims, offenders and communities
RE-ENTRY ACADEMY
–
CORE PRINCIPLE #2
Workforce
Development
The provision of opportunities and education to empower individuals and strengthen workforces
WORKFORCE ACADEMY
–
CORE PRINCIPLE #3
Economic
Mobility
The dream of entrepreneurship; the vital force behind successful small businesses
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACADEMY
–
CORE PRINCIPLE #4
Financial
Literacy
The education of an essential foundation for an intelligent relationship with money
PERSONAL & BUSINESS
FINANCE ACADEMIES
–
CORE PRINCIPLE #1
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice seeks to examine the harmful impact of a crime and then determines what can be done to repair that harm while holding the person who caused it accountable for his or her actions. Accountability for the offender means accepting responsibility and acting to repair the harm done.
Restorative Justice is a victim-centered, community-based approach for responding to crime that focuses on the harm that was caused and what needs to happen to make things better. The goal is to build understanding, encourage accountability, and provide an opportunity for healing.
Our primary concern must be the harm experienced by victims, but the focus on harm implies that we also need to be concerned about harm experienced by the community and the responsible party.
Principles of Restorative Justice
Harms and Needs
Restorative Justice understands crime as harm done to people and communities, and begins with a concern for victims and their needs. It seeks to repair the harm as much as possible to the victims and the community. Restorative justice invites the primary stakeholders—victims, offenders, and community members—to have a voice in the justice process. It gives them an opportunity to share their story, understand the crime’s impact, and determine how to repair harm. The victim has a need for healing, the offender needs to make amends, and the community has a need to feel relatively healthy and safe.
Obligations
Within restorative justice programs, community organizations and government officials have an obligation to meet the community’s need for relational health and safety. The community is held accountable to support victims and offenders as they heal, fulfill obligations, and reintegrate into the community.
Engagement
Crime always has “stakeholders” or primary parties affected by crime: the victim, the community, and the responsible party. These stakeholders should be involved in deciding what justice requires as these volunteers and community-based organizations act as the voice of the community. Legacy 64 understands the importance of engaging victims and offenders in a healthy way so they feel empowered and are supported to make meaning out of their experience by drawing on the strengths of both prisoners and victims, rather than dwelling on their deficits.
Legacy 64 understands that the persons most affected by crime, victims and offenders, should have the opportunity to become involved in resolving the conflict. The goals of our Restorative Justice program are restoring losses, allowing offenders to take responsibility for their actions, and helping victims move beyond their sense of vulnerability.
RE-ENTRY ACADEMY
The Legacy 64 “Re-Entry Academy” is a victim-focused restorative justice program that offers services useful for reentering society, creating long-term opportunities to repair harm done, and building economic security for the individual. The program employs restorative justice principles, and has an emphasis on working with formerly incarcerated individuals to understand the impact of, and be held accountable for the harm of their crime.A primary need for offenders is to regain a good standing within the community.
But incarcerated individuals have few opportunities to atone for their wrongs, at least in a restorative way. This is especially evident when the criminal justice system focuses on establishing guilt and punishing them, often with imprisonment.As such, the community, especially nonprofit organizations, play an important role in helping formerly incarcerated individuals rejoin their families and communities. Upon reentry, the community can help them find employment, housing, and income assistance during their transition. Also, they can surround formerly incarcerated individuals with prosocial groups to support and hold them accountable.
While denouncing criminal behavior, Legacy 64 emphasizes the need to treat the formerly incarcerated with respect and allow them to reintegrate into the larger community; our services aid individuals to meet basic needs.
System Navigation Services include :
- Finding Temporary Shelter
- Obtaining Emergency Food & Provisions
- Qualifying for subsidized housing
- Opening bank accounts
- Obtaining a driver license
- Applying for Social Services benefits
- Immigration Services
- Healthcare coverage
- Tax Filing Support
- Enrolling in a school or college, etc.
Legacy 64 views crime as a breakdown of society and human relationships. We attempt to mend these relationships through dialogue, community support, involvement, and inclusion. By engaging both the victims and offenders in a healthy way, they feel empowered and supported.
Reintegration Services include:
- Victim-Offender Mediations
- Facilitated Dialogue Circles
- Support Groups
- Rehabilitation
- Facility enrollmentFamily Reunification Services
- Child Welfare Assistance
- Mental Health counseling
- Mentorship
- Forming community owned social enterprises
- Referrals to Legal Counsel
CORE PRINCIPLE #2
Workforce Development
Workforce Development is an approach to economic development, and attempts to enhance a region’s economic stability and prosperity by focusing on people rather than businesses.
Workforce development has evolved from a problem-focused approach, addressing issues such as low-skilled workers or the need for more employees in a particular industry, to a holistic approach considering participants’ many barriers and the overall needs of the region.
Legacy 64 workforce development services are geared towards placing clients in long term jobs and careers that lead to economic self-sufficiency and beyond; jobs that offer various possible career pathways, opportunities for upward mobility, and work benefits like access to healthcare, retirement benefits, and dependent care.
WORKFORCE ACADEMY
Assessments
We offer an initial assessment of skill levels including literacy, numeracy, and English language proficiency, as well as aptitudes, abilities (including skills gaps), and supportive service needs. Through the use of diagnostic testing and use of other assessment tools, we conduct in-depth interviews and evaluations to identify employment barriers and appropriate employment goals.
Planning
We develop an individual employment plan, identify the employment goals, design appropriate achievement objectives, and identify the appropriate combination of services for clients. This enables them to achieve their employment goals, as we also provide information about eligible training providers. Career planning services also include developing short-and long-term goals .
Training
Our short-term pre-vocational services include the development of learning skills, communication skills, interviewing skills, punctuality, personal maintenance skills, financial literacy skills, and professional conduct services to prepare individuals for employment.
Navigation
Once our client is prepared to apply for jobs that have been identified as matching with their skillset, we offer (1) Job search assistance, (2) Resume and application development, and (3) Salary negotiation assistance.
CORE PRINCIPLE #3
Economic Mobility
Going into business for oneself is widely seen as part of the American Dream and a road to prosperity. In fact, entrepreneurship often does promote mobility, though typically in an incremental way that is inconsistent with the “rags-to-riches” stereotype. Research shows that entrepreneurs who are successful enough to survive five years in business generally see more upward mobility over those years than wage and salary workers, except among those starting out toward the top of the earnings distribution.
There are, however, significant differences between black entrepreneurs and those of other racial and ethnic groups, not only in income, but also in overall entrepreneurial success. Many from underserved communities are less likely to succeed in business despite being more likely to explore starting a business, in part because they have limited savings and are less likely to have gained experience and business contacts. There is also, of course, evidence to suggest discrimination in the market for small-business loans.
Economic mobility in the United States is significantly impacted by residential segregation, income inequality, school quality, social capital, and family stability. Entrepreneurship is still considered to be a promoter of economic growth, job creation, and wealth accumulation.
ENTREUPENEURSHIP ACADEMY
Legacy 64 believes in driving economic mobility through entrepreneurship; the vital force behind successful small businesses.
We offer services useful for building economic security through entrepreneurship and support individuals looking to build a for-profit business or non-for-profit organization:
- Business Planning and Startup
- Corporate Structure & Compliance
- Business Licensing and Permits
- Funding a Startup
- Building a Brand
- Understanding the Supply Chain
- Sales & Customer Relations
- Investor pitch training
- Basic Accounting & Taxation
- Marketing, & Advertising
- Exit Strategy
- Business Development skills
- Management & Leadership
- Organizational Development
- Corporate Responsibility
- Managing Growth
- Understanding EBITDA
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training
- Developing Culture in an organization
- Community-owned Social Enterprises
- Not-For-Profit Organizations
CORE PRINCIPLE #4
Financial Literacy
Financial literacy is the ability to understand and effectively use various financial skills, including financial management, budgeting, and investing. When you are financially literate, you have the essential foundation of an intelligent relationship with money, and it will serve you as a starting point to a lifelong journey of learning about financial matters that are more advanced.
The earlier you start, the better off you will be financially, because education is the key to success when it comes to money. Financially literate individuals use financial knowledge to make better financial decisions. From everyday spending to long-term financial planning, effective money management means using money to further your personal goals – no matter what they are.
PERSONAL FINANCE ACADEMY
Personal financial skills are important because without them, people usually spend their entire lives slaving for money, always in debt, never able to catch up and get ahead. Everyone wants to be able to meet financial goals, prepare for emergencies, grow assets, and ensure financial security for themselves and their families. We teach the traits of financially healthy individuals: organization, information, and a focus on the future.
Basic Personal Finance:
- Trade-offs between school, work, and money
- Why people find themselves in unplanned debt
- Understanding Credit & FICO scores
- Interest and Compounding
- Bank Accounts: Checking & Savings
- Income, Earnings, and Taxes
- Budgeting
- Savings
- Emergency Fund
- Credit Cards, Loans, and Debt
Advanced Personal Finance:
- Financing Purchases
- Predatory Lending
- Life Insurance
- Investing for Beginners
- Homeownership 101
- Real Estate & Multi-Family Properties
- Estate Planning
- Higher Education Financing
- Understanding Student Loans & Debt
- Retirement Savings Accounts
- Health Savings Accounts
BUSINESS FINANCE ACADEMY
Business financial education and development programs are essential activities and at the core of our organization. Empowering clients to become self-sufficient shareholders in their own communities and the greater economy is imperative for the longevity of those communities. By providing business finance skills, clients learn foundational skills for operating a small business or holding a high-level position in a small business. Our investor pitch training enables entrepreneurs to seek funding confidently, knowing the business has reached a point of profitability in which they can grow and expand. Lastly, we assist those interested in forming social enterprises and non-profit organizations that will benefit the community.
Our Curriculum Includes (but is not limited to):
- Economics 101
- Understanding Capital and Wealth
- Corporate Strategy
- Partnerships & Joint Ventures
- Forming a Nonprofit
- Grant & Proposal Writing
- Finance vs. Accounting
- Basic Bookkeeping
- Business Taxation
- Capital & Equipment Planning
- Debt. vs. Equity
- Predatory Lending
- ROI – Return on Investment & the Payout
- Investor Pitch Training
- Revenue and Expense Management
- Understanding Financial Statements
- Managing Liquidity
- Growing a Business
- Developing an Exit Strategy