A good job is hard to find—particularly if you’re an ex-offender, a recovering substance abuser, or a young person who’s never been in the workforce. Jubilee Jobs has placed 900 such people in positions during the past year alone, thanks to Terry Flood and her team. Thirty-five years ago, Flood worked with Jubilee Housing, a nonprofit in Adams Morgan that found affordable housing, when she realized what her clients really needed was jobs. An employment agency grew from one volunteer, then became a separate program with a second office in Anacostia. Each Monday, 60 to 80 people start orientation; by Tuesday of the next week, they’re ready for the job search. One Jubilee grad had spent 27 years behind bars. Flood learned he’d been a building manager—“he knew about drywall and mixing paint.” Jubilee found him a job as a property manager using skills he’d forgotten he had. “In Terry’s mind,” a volunteer says, “each job seeker possesses a wealth of untapped abilities.”
This article appears in our January 2016 issue of Washingtonian.
