Statements

Mission

To connect survivors of abuse to meaningful employment.

Background

"We are still selling ourselves to have money to send our kids to school." Viable team members have heard these words directly and felt the pain of realizing months and years of well-intentioned service failed to truly "help" people in vulnerable situations and reduce their vulnerability to further exploitation. It's likely you have found this experience and concern to be a very common gap expressed by providers and supporters of rescue, recovery, and "job readiness" services around the world and in our own backyards.

The question most asked by our clients who have worked through the recovery phase of their journey is, "How am I going to support myself?" By God's grace, you can be a part of a durable solution that uses business skills in a trauma-informed approach to connect people to markets they can't otherwise reach, and support them as they work to maximize opportunities they've not previously envisioned. You can break the cycle of rescue, restore, repeat.

Impact

Viable has helped thousands of at-risk and vulnerable individuals to access better jobs and meaningful employment. Beyond the provision of an increase in household earned income, we find that purposeful work fosters community, builds dignity and continues survivors' healing process.

Whether a survivor's situation is due to conflict in rural Africa or human trafficking in the United States, we have served as their bridge, helping them walk the last mile from poverty and exploitation to self-sufficiency and hope.

The work may look different in each community, but our impact is the same: connecting people to opportunity.

Needs

The hard truth: Without meaningful employment, 80% of trafficking victims will be re-exploited. After aging out of foster care, 1 in 5 former foster youth will be homeless. In spite of prolonged abuse, domestic violence survivors cite a lack of dependable personal income as a top factor preventing them from leaving.

Rescue and recovery services are vital components in addressing the immediate needs of survivors of abuse. There are many remarkable agencies that do outstanding work in providing safe spaces and services for survivors to heal and work on themselves, many of which include traditional 'job readiness' programs. Despite all of these services, in the words of one of our referral partners, "our clients know they're approaching an economic cliff when they leave us".

A gap remains. As individuals 'graduate' or age out of their service programs, they carry the weight of the looming question: Now what?

Survivors need immediate employment opportunities with upward mobility (read: not dead-end jobs) in a healthy work environment created by employers with an established track record of investing in their people. Real jobs, real income, real opportunity.

Service Categories
Primary Category:	Employment  - Employment Preparation & Procurement
Secondary Category:	-
Tertiary Category:	-

Areas Served

Serving clients in Davidson, Cheatham, Montgomery, Dickson, Robertson, Sumner, Rutherford, Williamson, Hamilton, and Shelby Counties.

TN - Williamson