The Turnabout, Inc. career center is located in the heart of Denver, just a block off Colfax Avenue. We provide support for former offenders who are seeking jobs, educational opportunities, hope, and dignity.
Purpose and Overview
Turnabout’s purpose is to reduce the number of people returning to prison by increasing career and educational opportunities that promote self-sufficiency, and to work to end the cycle of poverty and crime in our Metropolitan Denver communities. On top of the employment services we provide, we challenge clients to seek a strong self awareness as a means to address and reverse the values and attitudes that lead to self-destructive thinking.
Turnabout’s vision is to be Colorado’s premier reentry organization that provides restoration and renewal through work-related solutions.
Mission
To reduce recidivism throughout Colorado and create lasting solutions by assisting individuals with criminal histories through career preparation and training.
Values
- Turnabout believes people can change and deserve another chance.
- Turnabout honors victims of crimes through solutions that restore.
- Turnabout seeks out and listens to diverse voices in all stages of decision-making.
- Turnabout seeks out and listens to diverse voices in all stages of decision-making.
- Turnabout believes transformation is possible through repentance, forgiveness, and love.
- Turnabout focuses on the needs of the imprisoned and cares for the least, the last, and the lost.
- Turnabout expects commitment from our participants to change their lives and the lives of others.
- Turnabout believes in empowering people to better themselves.
Our Partners
Our Board of Directors
In the mid-80’s, a group of volunteers from Trinity United Methodist Church offered a cup of coffee, a listening ear and a few job leads to Denver’s homeless community. Turnabout was founded as a 501(c)(3) organization in 1997, having identified a unique opportunity to provide targeted job readiness and other services that address core issues of homelessness and recidivism in order to help participants become self-sufficient, contributing members of society.
In 1997, Turnabout began with a city grant to train and place ex-offenders into construction-related occupations. In 2000, Turnabout began a weekly class at the Denver County Jail, which is still ongoing. In 2002, we broadened our focus to programming in various areas of career and education preparation. Contracts and grants have included Community Corrections, Denver Workforce Centers, Life Skills at the County Jail, Denver’s Road Home, and Metro Denver Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED). Turnabout has diversified revenue sources including an annual event (Turnabout Sunday at Trinity), various individuals and a combination of private foundation, state, and city funding.
In 2009, Turnabout secured $200K in funding to move from cramped quarters to our current, larger location one block off Colfax Avenue. This move has made it much easier for clients to find us, and has enabled us to grow our service capacity to over three times what it was in 2008. Currently, we are the only nonprofit organization in the Denver Metro area that exclusively helps former offenders reintegrate into society.
In 2011, we plan to continue to enhance our services for drop-in and orientation clients by increasing the number of coats, bikes, and bus tokens provided and in-house hard skills training (Flagging, Forklift, Lead-based Paint and OSHA). Currently, government grants enable Turnabout to provide "intensive services" which include comprehensive employment skills training, hard skills training, case management, job placement, work basics (tools, work boots, transportation, etc.) and mentoring for approximately 400 individuals per year. However, in 2010, Turnabout assisted a total of 5,327 unduplicated individuals, and expect to serve a total of 6,000 in 2011.
Turnabout provides access to a fully-stocked computer lab, daily job leads, limited transportation assistance, subsidized work skills training, and job search assistance for approximately 5600 additional individuals annually that do not meet the specific requirements of government funded programs. This assistance is funded primarily through private foundation support and individual donors.
For Metro Denver, the impact of that support is huge. All services are individualized to help participants move from self-doubt and desperation to a future of self-sufficiency and long-term success. That success is then paid forward by graduate participants who have succeeded and hire current candidates, proven mentors who return to help new participants overcome obstacles, and by parents empowered to pass along strong values and support to their children across future generations.
Turnabout Staff: (Back row, from left) Bobbie Williams, Taryn Van Duesen, Hassan Latif, Garrett Coulter, Kelly Booker, Christopher Hughes; (Front row, from left) Felicia Muniz, Barb Bowman, Rev. Tina Yankee, Kris Dafni
Family Talent Show for clients in our mentoring program was a big hit! Sixteen all-star acts performed for a packed house.
Turnabout Sunday gave clients an opportunity to volunteer and tell their story to members of Trinity United Methodist Church.
Contact us today to post a job order, find out about our candidates or learn how our job screening and matching process works. It's easy to find a great match for your workplace and skillset needs!
Working together with businesses, community & faith based organizations, educational institutions, government agencies, and private citizens, Turnabout delivers better, more sustainable outcomes.