Everyone in our community who wants to work should have access to work. That is part of the Give Where You Live and therefore the GROW ethos. If you want to work, you should be able to.
Yet, many people within our community are being prevented from entering the workforce. There are many reasons why employers may overlook perfectly suitable candidates, but one organisation working to really challenge that idea is Fruit2Work.
For those coming out of the justice system, it can be tricky to find that first job, to have that first company take a chance on you.
But Fruit2Work is making that transition easy.
Fruit2Work is a certified Social Enterprise that creates chances for people who have been impacted by the justice system through transitional employment. The organisation delivers fresh fruit, milk, pantry staples, and vending machine services to businesses across Melbourne and Geelong.
In their five years of operation, Fruit2Work has transitioned 52 people into full-time work and they are proud to say that not one of these people has gone back to prison.
After joining GROW in July 2020, Fruit2Work’s network expanded.
“We already were working with Norris, John Holland, and Kane Constructions who are GROW signatories. Norris has gone on to successfully employ a worker full-time. Since collaborating through GROW we now service Deakin Uni, Hanlon Industries, Watpac, Plan Group, Harwood Andrews & Spiire. GROW has recently introduced us to Hansen Yuncken, COGG, Decmil, and SMEC,” says Rob Brown, Chief Chance Creator at Fruit2Work.
This network means that Fruit2Work can engage with more companies in the region and therefore help more people re-enter the workforce.
“The collaboration with GROW by opening up the network in Geelong that we previously had no access to, has allowed us to increase our customer base which in turn means we can employ more justice clients wanting to re-enter their communities via work,” says Rob.
Elly Hanlon from Hanlon Industries loves being able to support the work of Fruit2Work, “Engaging Fruit2work was such an easy decision for us to make; a simple change for us but resulting in a big impact for others. We had staff spending an hour a week organising fruit and milk, but not anymore. GROW actions don’t have to be complex to be meaningful.”