It was just $289 that had the power to determine whether Erica Wade would continue working lower-wage gigs or be on the path to tripling her income.
The Cleveland mother was ecstatic she had landed an apprenticeship for operating engineers, also known as heavy equipment operators. But she could only start training if she was able to put her two youngest children in an afterschool program and then find childcare during the approaching summer break. Each seemed unlikely since she owed the aftercare program $289 in back payments.
That was two years ago. Now she’s halfway through the four-year apprenticeship because the Barrier Removal Fund paid the $289. The fund is part of the Built Environment Collaborative, a $10 million federally funded initiative that offers free and low-cost training programs for Cleveland residents aimed at getting them jobs in the construction, infrastructure and clean energy industries.
Two hundred and eighty-nine dollars may not seem like a lot of money to some people, but when you don’t have it, it is. The apprenticeship has had such a major impact on my life. I’m building a career where I can afford to put food in my kids’ mouths.”
Erica Wade, who said the $289 she received from the Barrier Removal Fund, made it possible for her to start an operating engineer’s apprenticeship.
Success stories such as Wade’s motivated Greater Cleveland Works, the major workforce development agency for Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, to start a similar fund for residents using its services. The nonprofit agency runs the OhioMeansJobs Center in Cleveland at 1910 Carnegie Ave., which helps people find jobs and job training.
This type of fund is known as a wraparound services fund because it offers support – in this case financial – aimed at increasing the chances of residents being successful in new jobs or training programs. In addition to childcare, other costs covered could include car repairs and tools and equipment required for certain positions. The help is usually temporary, lasting until the recipient can receive a few paychecks.
Those who aren’t caught up in a continuing cycle of economic struggle may wonder why coming up with $289 proved so difficult for Wade. She was already working multiple gigs and couldn’t take on yet another one while raising school-age children. She couldn’t ask friends or family for help because most of them were in the same financial predicament.
“Two hundred and eighty-nine dollars may not seem like a lot of money to some people, but when you don’t have it, it is,” Wade said. “The apprenticeship has had such a major impact on my life. I’m building a career where I can afford to put food in my kids’ mouths.”
Greater Cleveland Works received $60,000 from the Cleveland Foundation this summer to help set up the wraparound fund. The money is part of a $450,000 grant to assist with programming and staffing at the nonprofit, which was formed in 2024 and replaces the public Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Workforce Development Board. [The Cleveland Foundation provides support for Signal Cleveland.]
Michelle Rose, chief executive officer of Greater Cleveland Works, said the wraparound services fund is greatly needed and couldn’t have been started without the Cleveland Foundation grant. She said it offers a holistic approach to workforce development and helps pay for things that federal workforce funds usually wouldn’t cover.
“We want to meet people where they are so that they can succeed in training and employment,” she said.
Barrier Removal Fund helps a career dream from being deferred
Wade remembers her intense anxiety when she feared that not having $289 had the potential to derail a construction career with good pay and benefits. She was sick and tired of not making enough to support her family with the gig work she did. The gigs included cleaning hotels and working at a car wash and often didn’t pay more than $15 an hour.
A decade earlier, Wade was on the verge of starting a construction career. She needed a valid driver’s license to get into a pre-apprenticeship, but her license had been suspended for unpaid court fines and fees. (A new Ohio law lifts license suspensions for people with unpaid court fines and fees.) She owed roughly $1,000, which she then considered a fortune. Wade wasn’t making enough to support her family working low-wage jobs, and, back then, they were living in a homeless shelter.
“No matter how hard I worked, I could not afford to pay it off at all,” she said.
Before getting into the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 18 apprenticeship, Wade had done a pre-apprenticeship with Cleveland Builds, which is part of the Built Environment Collaborative. Staffers often ask participants, who are about to start apprenticeships, if they have any needs with which the Barrier Removal Fund could help. Wade mentioned childcare, and she then found out that she was eligible for a stipend to help cover three weeks.
“I was ashamed to tell them anything about the back payments that I owed,” she said.
Wade didn’t want the program to view her as a freeloader. The staffer kept pressing, sensing Wade had more to say.
“I finally broke down and told her,” Wade said. “I said, ‘Hey, it’s more than just me needing these three weeks paid. I owe them some money.’”
When the staffer asked her how much, Wade took a long pause before saying, “I owe a lot.” When the staffer kept pressing for an amount, Wade finally told her.
“She said, ‘Is that it?” Wade said. “I thought you said you owed a lot.”
When the weather started turning cold, the Barrier Removal Fund helped her with work gear to help keep her warm since she works outdoors. Wade initially only asked for work boots, heavy socks and work gloves, though she knew she needed more.
The staffer kept pressing her to tell her everything she needed, and Wade soon relented. Insulated work pants, a box of safety glasses and a box of ear plugs were among the other items she received.
“I didn’t want them to think I was greedy,” she said of why she had declined to ask for everything she needed. “Sometimes you’ve gone so long without help that you just don’t know how to act when someone wants to help you.”
For so long she had been living with a deferred career dream. Wade sometimes couldn’t believe she was actually working in construction.
“I still can’t sometimes believe it,” she said. “I’ve gotten raises. I’m making enough money that I’ve even got caught up on some bills!”
Greater Cleveland Works says being a nonprofit helps in creating innovative programs
It is a novel approach for the major workforce development agency in Cleveland and Cuyahoga County to offer a wraparound fund, said Rose of Greater Cleveland Works. Most workforce services are funded through the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, she said. The program often restricts paying for innovations, such as a wraparound services fund, and accepting funding from private foundations. (The Barrier Removal Fund is primarily funded from the American Rescue Plan Act, which is pandemic stimulus money that sometimes doesn’t carry the restrictions of other federal support.)
By making the major workforce development agency a nonprofit, Greater Cleveland Works has the ability to be more nimble in meeting the needs of customers, Rose said. The development agency is looking for additional grants and private funding so it can serve even more people flexibly.
Rose said Greater Cleveland Works’ staff asked this question before deciding on a program patterned after the Barrier Removal Fund:
“What would it look like if customers’ [participants’] daily cost of living needs were met and they have true freedom to look at different training programs or different entry-level jobs with a career path?”
Variations on Wade’s predicament, of being trapped in lower-wage jobs because she was unable to mount the relatively low financial barriers needed to set her on a career path, are fairly common, Rose said.
The $450,000 grant also helps Greater Cleveland Works develop a strategic plan and build the nonprofit’s capacity to better serve customers, including coming up with programs aimed at addressing factors that hinder low-wage workers from landing better paying jobs.
Because of the grant, the agency is fully staffed for the first time in at least three years, Rose said. The nonprofit used the grant to hire a director of strategic initiatives and a manager of employer solutions. In addition to program innovation, better serving customers and diversifying funding, she said Greater Cleveland Works is aiming to develop deeper partnerships with the business and economic development community.
Keith Laschinger, executive director of Cleveland Builds, is elated to see another wraparound services fund started. He spoke about how having a car is essential to most construction apprenticeships because many job sites are not near public transportation. He said several people have used the fund to pay for car repairs to tide them over until they were able to purchase or rent a more reliable vehicle.
“I don’t think that I fully appreciated how meaningful this fund was going to be until I started to see it in action,” he said.
Wade is living proof that the concept works. She is enjoying her construction career and believes her representation is important. She sees few women on construction job sites, and she said Black women are a rarity.
“This program has been life changing,” she said. “It has inspired me so much that I am hoping to one day be able to put a little bit of money aside to help other people out – just like I was helped.”
