StepUp Wilmington

In fiscal year 2023/24, StepUp Wilmington served more than 400 individuals and places 263 jobs. StepUp's operations returned to fully in-person training for its Job and Step2 programs, the latter of which was rebranded to CareerUp during the fiscal year, focusing more on developing careers for StepUp candidates. In FY 2023/24, StepUp continued to build and grow Beyond Talent, its social enterprise staffing initiative acting as the primary job placement division for StepUp's "job ready" candidates. Beyond Talent maintains 30 contracts in the Cape Fear region and placed 24 candidates into jobs with an average wage of over $15/hour. In addition, the placements generated an employer-paid fee for the organization. Beyond Talent leverages the organization's existing base of business partners and strong workforce services to provide opportunities for its program participants in the broader jobs market. FY 2023/24 was the second year of operations for its Restorative Opportunity Internships (ROI) program. This initiative focuses on internships for teens.