

Thank you for your support!
Towards Employment has been committed to giving Clevelanders a chance to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency through employment for over 40 years. We provide career planning, coaching and skill-building through work experience and technical training so workers can succeed in their current job and then advance along a career pathway. We also provide critical supports to ensure their success along the way, including transportation, uniforms and legal assistance.
Towards Employment is able to provide career services and chances to advance through the generosity of supporters like you.
Presented by The Modern Warrior Experience & Towards Employment
June 17th at the East Cleveland Public Library: Greg L. Reese Performing Arts Center
Dominick Farinacci, international jazz artist, Cleveland native and co-creator of Modern Warrior LIVE, is partnering with Towards Employment to create a live performance and multi-media work collaborating with six individuals with involvement in the criminal justice system who faced barriers to finding jobs and careers. This world-premiere performance is made possible by a grant from the Char and Chuck Fowler Family Foundation and features stories of six Clevelanders, using Modern Warrior LIVE’s innovative and immersive model of storytelling, music and multimedia. This is the first work-focused performance in a series of storytelling collaborations through Modern Warrior LIVE’s collaborative program called the Modern Warrior EXPERIENCE.
Dominick co-created the national touring production Modern Warrior LIVE, an immersive music and narrative experience that chronicles the story of US Army veteran Jaymes Poling and his journey through three deployments in Afghanistan and subsequent transition back home. As the production provides a catalyst for meaningful conversation about stigma, mental health, post-traumatic growth, and resiliency, Farinacci and Poling began to see through lines that connected veteran stories to those of returning citizens or people with involvement in the criminal justice system.
“Stigma often creates barriers to communication that leave so many of us feeling isolated and unable to share the struggles we face. In doing this, we risk further separating from the communities that can most help us heal,” says Poling.
“With the Modern Warrior EXPERIENCE, we strive to tear down those barriers to communication, allowing individuals to share the unfiltered reality of their journey, and in doing so carve a path for others hoping for a better tomorrow,” says Farinacci.


We are continuing to connect participants and graduates to resources and supportive services. Just as our workshop has gone virtual, so have our volunteer opportunities!
Current opportunities include:
Mock interviewing, social media ambassadors, step up cheerleaders, outreach ambassadors, community clean up assistance, and civic engagement & advocacy volunteers.
Learn more about TE alumni by watching videos from the event.
Towards Employment’s Hometown Hero Award honors an organization, person, or group of people who are making an impact in our community by elevating and addressing issues that impact the individuals we support.
We’ll announce the 2023 Hometown Hero Award recipient during the event on June 7.

Committee Members
Carrie Rosenfelt & Grace Heffernan
Co-Chairs
Dan Arian
Brenda Brown
Ronnie Cannon
Timothy Chai
Joan Crosby
Laura Desmond
Marie Eslick
Brooke Hodge
Karen Jones
Megan Killagallon
Bola Majekodunmi
Melissa Majka
Sara McCarthy
Amanda Pacanovsky
Jill Rizika
Sandi Rosado
Adaora Schmiedl
Robin Smalley
Elizabeth Smith
Erron Toppin
Micki Byrnes & Shelly Peet
Honorary Co-Chairs