I don’t think there are any reigning experts on entrepreneurialism in the homeless community. The two topics seem incongruous to be discussing in the same conversation.

But, think about it.  What if a homeless person, somehow, sees a place to travel to from either hurt or complacency? What is there is another path that no one ever thought possible?  This is what we at Real Second Chance grapple with every day. And what is happening is truly eye opening to us.

We are finding a hard core that has just fallen prey to the homeless lifestyle, found out how to exist in it, and are completely comfortable in spending the rest of their days content on living this way. There are others who truly don’t want to be there, but have no support group, no peer group that will push them to do anything but survive where they are. Of this group, there truly are candidates who can make it to becoming entrepreneurs, or at least have the aptitude and potential drive to do it.

These are the people we are beginning to interview, and we are going to show some surprising facts over the next months and years. A life-changing project.  One that we are happy we began.

As of April 23, we have had two meetings with potential Candidate providers for RSC to evaluate and see if RSC can accept them into the Second Chance Entrepreneurial Program©. Some things worth sharing.

 

Our first meeting was with a drug addiction care center in Orlando, FL. To say the least, it was an eye opener. I’m not sure any TV or any news reporting of the problem does it justice and describes the true magnitude of the problem. Everyone should, if they have the chance, visit a drug addiction facility, see for themselves and realize that this area of our lives deserves more than just casual attention.  

Our second visit was to a homeless shelter located in Winter Haven, FL. The shelter is Christian-based, and is run by some of the most dedicated and knowledgeable people you could meet. Our visit saw almost busy-airport-style activity, with so many people doing so many things, operating in completely different aspects of taking care of the homeless they provide services for. What’s unique about this facility and the people running it is they actually try to take the extra step and try to develop and give their visitors a reason to be better. They try to show how faith plays an important role in them getting better, and whether you have religious beliefs or not, it is an incredibly impressive program. This is a group of people who are doing much more than they have to, to make their community better.   

We hope to be working with both groups in the near future.

On our website at www.realsecondchance.org, we have many videos trying to show it can be done. You actually can become a successful entrepreneur regardless of where you come from, and what baggage you carry into any situation. The key is to try. And if you don't first succeed, do you have the guts and courage to try again. If you can pass these tests, you're part of the way there.

What we try to do is to predict a candidate's likelihood of success. That doesn't mean we would reject someone if they were short in a given area. It just means we would have more predictable results from analyzing certain characteristics that would identify a higher probability for success. When you deal in disbursing scarce funds as we do, you want to pick the highest likelihood of becoming a successful entrepreneur.

All in all, so far a great experience, and one that will just keep getting better as we progress.