The Gift That Gives Back
Your United Way pledge helps people find critical jobs at Hopkins

Johns Hopkins Medicine 2003 United Way Goals Hopkins Hospital and Health System: $369,000 School of Medicine: $489,000 Health Divisions Administration: $20,300 Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center: $115,500 Johns Hopkins HealthCare: $30,000 Howard County General Hospital: $60,000 Johns Hopkins Home Care Group: $23,100 Johns Hopkins Community Physicians: $39,500 Total: $1,146,400 Taking Part A key measure of the United Way campaign's success is participation. Last year, the School of Medicine's average overall participation rate was only 14 percent of all its 6,389 employees. (JHH participation was 26 percent.) Here is an SOM breakdown: Faculty: 19% Vice presidents and deans: 66% Senior staff: 19% Managerial and administrative staff: 12% Office and clerical staff: 11% Housekeeping, crafts and services: 56%

Montaz Young ran out of hope long before she reached her 30th birthday. A recovering addict, she was raising four kids alone in East Baltimore on a meager welfare check. Then she noticed a flier in the social services office for WorkMatters, a Civic Works program that helps Baltimore City residents get off of welfare and into steady employment and is funded by federal grants and the United Way.

After a few halting starts, Young tackled Civic Works' job training sessions, mock interviews, and community service requirements. She learned to look people in the eye and work as a team player. Two months later, Civic Works placed Young in an entry-level internship position as an environmental services worker at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. She was thrilled to be hired permanently and then promoted three months later to support associate, assisting the nurses on Halsted 5.

That was two years ago. Young, now 32, has been accepted in the hospital's STEP program to train as a surgical tech. Eventually, she wants to become a nurse. "I tried to work at Hopkins so many times but was always turned down for lack of experience," she says. "I'm so grateful I had people who saw something in me and gave me a chance. My future looks real good now."

Civic Works placed 83 people at Hopkins Hospital last year, filling essential positions such as data entry clerks; clinical, support and clerical associates; radiology file clerks; and environmental and food service workers. It is one of several key agencies, all funded by United Way, that the hospital, through its Department of Human Resources, partners with in order to build its workforce while providing jobs to those from the community.

These organizations help remove barriers to employment, such as lack of child care, computer skills or general life skills. To those that qualify, the hospital then provides a steady job, further training and, subsequently, a variety of educational programs like STEP (see Quick Studies, above) so that these employees can build careers. All told, 165 people were hired last year through these United Way workforce development agencies.

Last year, Johns Hopkins Medicine employees contributed $1.1 million to United Way (which constitutes nearly 3 percent of all contributions in Maryland). The amount was the highest ever, but participation was hugely disproportionate. In the School of Medicine, for example, 56 percent of the housekeeping staff contributed, but only 19 percent of the faculty did. Martin Abeloff, director of the Kimmel Cancer Center and chairman of this year's campaign, says the disparity most likely stems from proximity: "Our environmental services group tends to see more directly what the United Way does for people. No other charity has such a profound effect on our local communities."

Young agrees. She says that since she started at Hopkins, many of her friends and neighbors have been asking her how she got a job here, and how they could, too.

-Lindsay Roylance

The Gift That Gives Back The United Way acts as the primary safety net for many local agencies whose programs directly benefit Johns Hopkins Medicine and its surrounding community by cultivating a pool of qualified local employees. Here's a breakdown of the most key: Civic Works' WorkMatters Program The details: Through a two-year federal job training grant, 216 Baltimore City residents who were on welfare received six to eight weeks of education, job readiness and life skills training at Civic Works and then were placed into entry-level internship positions. The data: After the internships, 106 were eligible for hire, and 83 were placed at Hopkins. Helping Up Mission The details: A one-year program to help men move from homelessness and addiction to recovery and gainful employment. The men live at the Mission and participate in a 12-step program, Bible studies and discipleship training, plus work therapy-working in the kitchen, laundry, thrift store or other areas of the Mission. They learn computer skills, prepare for G.E.D.s, complete job-training tutorials and brush up their resumes and interviewing skills. The data: As of mid-June, 42 men have been hired at Hopkins. Catholic Charities: Christopher Place and St. Jude's The details: Christopher Place's residential program helps homeless men find and maintain permanent housing and full-time employment through training for job readiness, career and interpersonal skills and independent living. St. Jude's helps homeless and disadvantaged men and women address barriers to employment, improvement of skills and the progression from temporary to permanent employment. The data: About 25 people have been hired at Hopkins through Christopher Place over the past year and a half; five from St. Jude's.