In our August partner spotlight, we talk with Chief Executive Officer Amelia Nickerson about First Step Staffing history, mission and expansion.
Enterprise (E): Please say a little bit about the work that you do at First Step Staffing.
Amelia Nickerson (AN): First Step Staffing, Inc. (FSS) is an alternative staffing organization (ASO) that combines the market-driven demand of contract staffing with a mission-based employment strategy to connect people experiencing homelessness, veterans and individuals who have been recently incarcerated to sustainable employment, income and the supportive services they need to obtain and retain a job.
Our goal is to provide economic opportunity and a path to permanent self-sufficiency. Studies conducted by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and other organizations show that individuals experiencing homelessness rank paid employment alongside housing as a primary need. However, the barriers faced by these vulnerable populations, such as a lack of a permanent address, criminal backgrounds, long gaps without work and more, are seen as risk factors by employers.
Founded in Atlanta in 2007, First Step now operates in six states, has employed over 20,000 individuals, paid more than $215 million in earned wages, given over 300,000 rides to and from work and provided thousands of hours of job coaching to our clients.
E: How are Section 4 HUD Capacity Building funds used at your organization? What do you hope to accomplish when this project is complete?
AN: Entering the workforce is the “First Step,” and workforce mobility is the second step. Here, we work to proactively connect our clients to training opportunities in fields that lead to high-demand, higher-wage careers. Our Upskill Training Program is unique in that we apply an “earn and learn” model that helps ensure clients can maintain the income necessary for basic needs while completing training and certification programs.
The Section 4 HUD Capacity Building grant funds will help us develop more robust “Second Step” Upskill programming as we establish greater upskill opportunities and partners, develop a training calendar and usher clients through the enrollment and completion processes.
E: How have the last two to three years challenged you at First Step Staffing? What has been the hardest part of the experience for First Step Staffing? For your service population?
AN: First Step Staffing has known for more than a decade that racial inequity and a lack of access to economic opportunity are problems in America. For years, a lack of access to adequate education, reliable transportation and physical and mental health resources have plagued underserved communities.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues and brought them to light. People of color are overrepresented relative to the general population in experiencing poverty, homelessness and incarceration. Those who need access to stable income the most face barriers that prevent them from accessing economic opportunity through employment.
With all of this in mind, First Step never shut its doors or moved to a virtual service model during the pandemic. We knew that it would be difficult to serve our clients who lacked access to digital services remotely. We also continued to staff essential businesses like logistics, food production and mail sorting that required in-person workers. We quickly adapted to ensure our staff, workforce, customers and partners were able to stay safe and healthy while the world navigated the new challenges of the Covid-19 virus.
Now, in this post-pandemic labor market, First Step is still finding ways to provide value to our clients and local businesses. Today, however, we are seeing clients with even higher barriers to success. Having faced the trauma of the last three years, they are struggling with mental health concerns while housing costs skyrocket and childcare becomes even more scarce.
We are facing a perfect storm – a growing population in need of First Step’s services as well as a rising number of businesses reaching out for help with their hiring needs. Over the last two years, we have added additional services that include housing assistance, access to childcare resources and new training opportunities. Our new Strategic Plan also calls for a renewed focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to ensure that our clients are represented at every level of the organization, from Board members to internal staff.
E: What have you learned in this unique and challenging time? Will you make any permanent changes going forward?
AN: We have learned a great deal over the last three years about how First Step can not only help our clients get a job, but how we can help them keep a job and eventually move into a career pathway with a living wage.
In order to replicate this strategy in all current and future First Step markets, we have established a new Community Engagement and Development department, led by a newly appointed chief mission officer. The goals of this office are to develop scalable strategies and operations for community engagement, promote client support services including robust upskill training and raise the funds necessary to execute support services and oversee marketing and communications about all of the above.
Additionally, we continue to focus our sales strategy on jobs that provide adequate wages, good working environments, opportunities for on-the-job training and advancement and are open to second chance hiring to ensure our clients have access to quality jobs in their communities.
E: What do you think will change about affordable housing or working with vulnerable populations over the next five years? How are you excited about First Step Staffing impacting that change?
AN: I think we will continue to see a move toward partnerships and braided funding sources to ensure that the most vulnerable in our communities have access to basic needs (food and shelter) while also addressing long-term goals like employment, childcare and financial empowerment.
While First Step is not a housing provider, we know that there are two essential components to helping our clients end their cycle of homelessness for good – stable housing and income. In our role, we will continue to advocate for fair housing policies that allow our clients to access affordable housing options and build relationships with affordable housing providers in all our markets to ensure our clients can access what they need to be successful.
E: What else should people know about First Steps Staffing? What makes First Steps Staffing unique as an organization in the larger affordable housing and economic mobility arena?
First Step’s ability to quickly scale and replicate our model into new markets has helped to make First Step the largest alternative staffing agency in the U.S. Both a social impact-financed acquisition strategy and customer-driven growth opportunities have helped grow the organization from a $2 million enterprise to a $68 million enterprise in just five years, serving more than 8,300 individuals annually.
Our growth continues this year with two new cities opening – Dallas in August 2022 and a second city to be announced soon. Additionally, our model is supported by 95% earned revenue, ensuring the future viability of the organization and our ability to dedicate all philanthropic support to critical services like transportation, housing assistance and upskilling for our clients.
While many workforce programs address the needs of low-wage workers, providing a path to economic mobility, few are able to address the needs of those locked out from economic opportunity. First Step says YES to those turned away from other employers, bringing the most disenfranchised back into the workforce.
As local businesses struggle to meet their hiring needs, ensuring those on the sidelines of the labor market are given an opportunity to become participating, taxpaying citizens is essential to the future vitality of our communities. At First Step, we believe EVERYONE deserves the opportunity to have the dignity of work.