Daniel Francois grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. Expelled from high school for fighting, he looked for off-the-books work and temporary jobs, trying to avoid the temptation of fast money dealing drugs. He got a GED, but still had a hard time finding work.
In 2002, Francois was job hunting in Brooklyn’s Gowanus neighborhood and saw the Red Hook on the Road (RHOR) commercial driver training service, offered by the Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc.’s Brooklyn Workforce Innovations program. He had considered truck driving before, but the driving school he was interested in charged $2,500 tuition. The four-week RHOR program was free and offered ongoing job placement.
Francois enrolled, completed his training, and passed the Class B commercial drivers license road test. The day after passing his test, Francois, with the help of RHOR, found a driving job that paid $500 per week.
This alone is a success story for Francois and many of his fellow graduates at RHOR. To help thriving participants like Francois climb even further up the career and economic ladder, the Fifth Avenue Committee, with the support of Independence Community Foundation (ICF), started an Individual Development Account (IDA) matching savings programs.
This program was the first attempt to link Individual Development Accounts with a workforce program. Francois recalls that RHOR’s director encouraged him to take advantage of the IDA program; “I made him repeat it three times because I didn’t believe him. He told me, every dollar I put in, Red Hook would put in two."
Maximum savings, to be used for continued professional training, could reach $4,800. With his IDA account, Francois saved the $2,400 needed to train for a Class A license to drive a tractor trailer. In May 2004, less than a year after opening his account, Francois passed the Class A test and found a job earning $1,000 per week.
Today Francois, a husband, father, and union driver with the MTA, is continuing on the successful path he began when he walked into ROHR.