The Education and Employment Ministry Inc. (TEEM)
The Rev. Theo "Doc" Benson, Minister-Director
14 NE 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Okla. 73104
(405) 235-5671
E-mail: staff@teem.org
Website: www.teem.org

"It absolutely, positively is not a problem putting people to work," says Theo "Doc" Benson, a sharecropper's son, oil-rig and construction worker and Methodist minister who's put literally thousands of unemployed Oklahomans back into the workplace.

TEEM's secret is surprisingly simple: It gives people the tools of self-reliance by quickly rebuilding their self-esteem. Participants in the eight-year-old program go through an intense five-day workshop that begins on Monday afternoons and continues from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. all week long. The workshop, conducted by TEEM's staff, focuses on six simple premises, Benson says: First, it assumes a spiritual dimension that requires no particular sectarian belief but calls on participants to look outside themselves for hope. Second, it works quickly to rebuild each individual's self-image from negative to positive; as Benson puts it, "We go from 'I'm a loser, I can't, I'm a victim,' to 'I will, I can, just give me an opportunity and get out of my way.'" Additional components include providing a safe, wholesome environment for the workshop; turning each weekly class of 15 to 20 participants into a caring support group; building a powerful sense of self-esteem, and establishing productivity as a personal goal.

Upon completion of the week long course, participants join in an inspirational graduation exercise, then move immediately to turn their new-found attitudes into jobs. For many, TEEM's own temporary-job program provides the first paycheck, as they go to work in a variety of low-wage landscaping and construction jobs for which the organization contracts and agrees to provide workers. Meanwhile, TEEM staff matches individuals' skills with job opportunities in the community and helps graduates get those jobs, working as an employment agency and supporting them in the job hunt.

Finally, TEEM offers continuing education programs to further boost work skills, with opportunities from basic GED courses to technical training in high-skill job fields. The program's eight-year track record proves its success: Benson estimates that 3,500 of its 4,000 graduates are currently working. With a staff of 12 and a lean annual budget of just $600,000, TEEM hopes to turn out 1,200 graduates a year and, ideally, find jobs for them all.

All the feature stories on @GRASS-ROOTS.ORG's pages are reported and written by Robin Garr, a prize-winning journalist who has visited more than 500 innovative grassroots programs in all 50 states since 1990.

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