Career Initiatives provides opportunities for people in mental health, addictions,
and/or trauma recovery to start their own small businesses or pursue self-employment.
Career Initiatives allows people to apply for seed money to support self-initiated projects.
The amounts of the Career Initiatives grants are modest, averaging around $2,000.
Grantees can reapply each year for a maximum of three years, as one of the goals of the program
is to encourage people to establish self-sufficiency.
Examples of successful Career Initiatives that are now self-sufficient include
The Anchor House of Artists in Northampton, an art gallery that provides opportunities to
those with mental health diagnoses; Tutor Service Dogs, a business that trains service animals
in Greenfield; and VOICES, an award-winning consumer-run theater company in Pittsfield.
The Career Initiatives program contains a number of interrelated components, including:
- The grant application
- Technical assistance workshops help potential Career Initiatives grantees
complete the grant application form while learning grant writing and budgeting skills.
As we require a resume with the application, this assistance includes training in resume writing.
- Job, leadership, and administrative training
- Access to training both directly (sponsored by The Consortium) and indirectly
(sponsored by other community organizations). Examples of training topics include marketing,
business plan development, and grant writing.
- Linkages with community resources
- As a stipulation of applying, we ask grantees to partner with one “sponsoring organization”
to provide resources in business development, administrative assistance, and/or mental
health supports. We refer grantees to additional community organizations to assist them with
their career development and personal recoveries.
- Individual and group support to grantees
- Individual meetings with grantees at least once per month and quarterly networking and strategic
planning meetings with grantees as a group. The group meetings are an excellent opportunity for
grantees to support each other, collaborate, and plan special events -- such as The Consortium’s
Annual Visual and Performing Arts Showcase that highlights grantees’ talents and publicizes their projects.
- Program/administrative support
- One-on-one technical assistance with administration of grantees’ Career Initiatives, including
assistance with resumes, developing business plans, budgeting, grant writing, supplemental
funding resources, computer skills, and vocational outreach.
Contact:
Oryx Cohen, Career Initiatives Coordinator
(413) 536-2401 x 3032
ocohen@theconsortiumwmtc.org
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