The Caroline Center

Since 1996, the Caroline Center has trained 906 women for employment in entry-level occupations such as geriatric nursing assistants, pharmacy technicians, child care providers, and upholsterers. Of those trained, 70 percent (or 635) have been placed in jobs, with 82 percent remaining in their jobs for six months and 70 percent retaining their jobs for at least one year.

The typical woman served is a single African-American mother, 28 years of age, with two or three dependent children. Half of the women served have not completed a high school diploma or GED and most have an employment history of dead-end jobs in fast food, retail, or manufacturing. Increasingly, the Caroline Center is seeing candidates with a history of some involvement in the criminal justice system.

In 2001, the Caroline Center became interested in developing a training program for harder-to-place lower-skilled women with criminal backgrounds. The center decided to focus on an upholstery training program, as many of Baltimore's small upholstery shop owners are aging and a workforce is needed to replace them. Skilled upholsterer positions offer flexible working hours and decent wages, both important factors for working mothers. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, skilled upholsterer positions pay $11.77 per hour, which translates into $24,482 a year. However, training programs are scarce: a recent list of training programs in Upholstery Journal cited only 29 training programs in 17 states.

In the fall of 2001, a retired upholsterer, Herb Davis, began teaching a small group of women the upholstery trade in the basement of the Caroline Center. Because on-the-job training is critical to success in the industry, the upholstery program is an learn-as-you-earn program in which 50 percent of the revenues generated by both private and commercial jobs are distributed to the individual woman who works on the job. Trainees can earn as much as $7,500 a year in commissions and most of the trainees also receive Social Security Income benefits for their children. The women attend training four days a week (Monday through Wednesday, and Friday) 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. Most of the instruction is hands-on, although two hours a week are devoted to classroom-like instruction. In addition to training in the skill itself, women also acquire the customer-related skills associated with estimating, pick-up, and delivery. The women who become most proficient in upholstery are offered full-time employment with Caroline Center Upholstery and are paid minimum wage plus commissions and are offered full benefits (health insurance, sick leave, vacation, etc.).

As of FY2005, the Caroline Center began transitioning its upholstery program into the self-sustaining business, Caroline Center Upholstery. In late 2003, the Caroline Center participated in the Baltimore Community Wealth Collaborative, which was designed to help nonprofits to develop and launch a business that could contribute revenue back to the nonprofit organization. The Caroline Center submitted its completed business plan to the National Business Plan Competition for Nonprofits sponsored by the Yale School of Management and the Goldman Sachs Foundation. In June, 2005, the Caroline Center was named runner-up (from a field of 464) and was awarded a prize of $25,000.

Today, 12 women (four full-time employee positions and eight trainees) and two master upholsters comprise Caroline Center Upholstery. The business attracts residential customers through word of mouth and is building its commercial business by providing services to four Catholic-run educational institutions, one hospital, and a local hotel group. Two more women are scheduled to begin training shortly and another four are on the waiting list. The Caroline Center plans to have 16 women working for Caroline Center Upholstery by the end of FY2007.

In 2005, The Abell Foundation awarded Caroline Center Upholstery a $50,000 grant to relocate to a larger building, enabling Caroline Center Upholstery to increase the number of pieces of furniture re-upholstered by 150 percent and to increase the number of its employees.