Statements
Mission
Justice Industries creates job opportunities for people experiencing barriers to employment by providing quality goods and services to the community while offering employees stability, independence, and upward mobility.
Background
We seek to employ those who find it difficult to find and keep work because of barriers, such as criminal history, addiction recovery, mental illness, domestic abuse, homelessness, and generational poverty. Even when people in this community complete job training classes or get a GED, entry-level jobs can be difficult to find, especially with those who might have a record or lack solid work history. As a result, too many in this demographic return to the streets, addiction, and/or prison. Those who do obtain jobs often find themselves in dead-end positions with little prospect of making enough money to support a family. It is this critically overlooked population that Justice Industries seeks to serve.
Our core business to date has been Just.Glass, a glass recycling pick-up service. Just.Glass, has more than 940 monthly residential subscribers and 30+ commercial clients, accounting for approximately $265,000 in annual revenue. We recycle over 330 tons of glass annually that would otherwise end up in our landfills. While we are proud of the environmental impact of Just.Glass, we're prouder of the work it provides for our employees. We serve 21 zip codes, pick-up glass six days per week, and provide more than 185 hours of work to our employees each week.
In 2020, we've launched a new business, a mobile car wash service called Just.Wash. This new business is providing close to 45 hours of work each week for our employees and continues to grow.
Impact
Founded in 2011, Justice Industries has employed more than 125 individuals who have faced barriers to employment and paid over $1,000,000 in wages through our various social enterprises.
2022 Highlights
1. Program revenue increased by 27%.
2. Successfully launched a new mobile car wash business called Just.Wash.
3. Provided close to 200 hours of work each week for our employees, many of whom would be out of work without us.
2023 Goals:
1. Continue to increase employment opportunities for people working their way out of chronic or generational poverty by providing consistent, reliable work through our Just.Glass enterprise.
2. Grow the customer base for Just.Glass to 1000 subscribers.
3. Continue to expand our Just.Glass service to include commercial pickups, specifically locally owned restaurants and bars.
4. Work with new recycling partner, Strategic Materials, to begin crushing and reprocessing glass locally.
5. To continue expanding and focus our board of directors and advisory board.
Needs
* Customers. Our core business continues to be Just.Glass, our glass recycling pick-up service. Subscriptions for residential pick up, every other week, costs $19.50/month.
* Post-Consumer Glass Customers. We need to find a buyer for post-consumer glass from Just.Glass, to provide additional sources of revenue for this enterprise beyond subscription income.
* Board Members. We are in need of people to partner with us in this mission.
* Business Partners. In addition to Just.Glass, our employees also have opportunity to work with a growing number of business partners who provide job opportunities for our employees or host "hot spots" for our Just.Wash industry.
CEO Statement
We are convinced that no social service has the potential to provide lasting change the way employment does; work offers a long-term, sustainable solution to many of the challenges faced by the population we serve. Income earners can buy food, pay rent, and provide for their families more easily than those relying on fixed government services. Work also provides dignity, purpose, and stability to those seeking to create a new start.
Our most successful enterprise, Just.Glass, is at an exciting, yet critical crossroads. Nashville lacks a city-wide solution to glass recycling. Residents of Metro Nashville can drop off glass at the recycling convenience centers, but curbside pickup isn't an option. Since the convenience centers don't allow commercial drop off, the only commercial solution for glass recycling for bars, restaurants, hotels, etc. is to pay for the service. Nashville also has more than our share of neighbors who are chronically un/underemployed, which can trigger homelessness, substance abuse and generational poverty leaving them stuck in a seemingly unbreakable cycle.
Just.Glass is a solution to both! Our glass recycling service keeps glass out of our area landfills, while also employing some of our city's most marginalized people. We've partnered with national recycling company Strategic Materials, who operates a plant in Ashland City, and we are committed to growing our footprint and recycling glass right here in our own hometown; putting local people to work and creating opportunity for our neighbors in need. We have proven there is a market in Nashville for curbside glass recycling, and look forward to continuing to provide this quality service to the community.
Board Chair Statement
For years, as a pastor, I've seen families come back for help, year after year. We would often help, but I always wondered whether our 'help' was really helping much. I wanted to do something that would do more than solve an immediate crisis but create a a different life trajectory, one with more options than chronic crisis. Justice Industries grew out of that dream of creating sustainable change in the lives of those caught in the churn of long-term unemployment or under-employment. And today, we're at the very early stages, but two of my long-term, under employed friends have earned an income from their work with Just.Glass. This part-time work is nowhere near enough to live on yet, but it's a start, a start at restoring dignity and igniting dreams for those who may have stopped dreaming long ago.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Employment - Vocational Rehabilitation |
| Secondary Category: | Environment - Recycling |
| Tertiary Category: | Community Improvement, Capacity Building - Economic Development |
Areas Served
Currently our organization serves the Greater Nashville community and Williamson County. We hope to expand to other cities in the future. We currently serve these 21 zip codes: 37027, 37201, 37203, 37204, 37205, 37206, 37207, 37208, 37209, 37210, 37211, 37212, 37214, 37215, 37216, 37219, 37220, 37221, 37064, 37067, and 37069.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Williamson |
