STRIVE, a national non-profit that provides free job training and wraparound career support services for people facing barriers to quality employment in Alabama, has received $1 million from the Truist Foundation.

The funding will support the organization in building a new site in Birmingham, bringing increased access to economic empowerment and mobility to the residents of Magic City.

“This funding will have a phenomenal impact on our local economy and the lives of Birmingham residents, especially in the Black community,” said Quiwintre Frye, executive director at STRIVE Birmingham. “Barriers to mobility have left many of our families disproportionately stuck in the cycle of generational poverty, and many struggle to see a way out. But STRIVE opens doors for people and shows them what is possible despite the obstacles. We are deeply proud to receive this investment and heartened to know that we have so much support to make real change for good in Birmingham.”

STRIVE Birmingham recently completed a pilot of its training program, preparing students for careers in nonclinical healthcare and office operations, and will begin its first-year cohort in September 2023.

The non-profit expects to serve 100 students annually with onramps to good jobs that lead to family-sustaining careers. It uses a five-pillar model that includes career readiness, occupational skills, career coaching, job placement assistance, and lifetime access to wraparound support services.

STRIVE received the money earlier this week during a presentation. Frye was joined by Truist Foundation president Lynette Bell, STRIVE CEO Phil Weinberg, Truist Financial chief teammate officer and head of enterprise diversity Kim Moore-Wright and Truist Financial Alabama regional president Burton McDonald to formally announce the grant and the impact it will have in Birmingham.

“Truist Foundation aims to fulfill Truist’s purpose of inspiring and building better lives and communities, which often begins with helping build pathways to steady employment and financial independence,” said Lynette Bell, president of Truist Foundation. “We believe we can help communities achieve this through increasing access to training, creating professional networks, and breaking barriers to employment, especially for those in historically excluded communities, and that is exactly the type of work STRIVE seeks to do in Birmingham and beyond.”

STRIVE currently operates in 14 cities across the U.S., including recently announced New Orleans, which is currently scheduled to open in 2024. STRIVE Birmingham is the first site the organization has developed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it plans to scale its nationwide programs and services over the next decade to expand from serving 2,000 people annually in 2023 to 10,000 people by 2033.

“We’ve just announced our new Growth Plan, which involves a significant expansion of our national impact over the course of the next decade,” Weinberg said. “Our vision is ambitious in terms of both the new cities we will be engaging and the individuals we will be serving annually, with an increased focus on justice-impacted populations. This well-timed grant has arrived during a historic and exciting time for STRIVE and will be a tremendous support as we amplify the STRIVE impact right here in Birmingham, in Atlanta, and next year, in New Orleans.”