WHO WE ARE
I'm Steve Jennings, Director of Teens Opposing Poverty (TOP). For over 26 years we have trained thousands of young people how to reach out to the homeless and others who are trapped in poverty. We meet the material
needs of the people we serve and we spend time with them, forming unlikely friendships. Through those relationships we learn about other needs and do everything we can to meet those needs.
BORN OF FRUSTRATION
About ten years ago I had a conversation with a homeless man named John who told me he had just been turned down for another job. He had been job hunting for two years after he finished serving his time on a felony charge. It turns out that conviction was
a life sentence that was keeping him from landing a job. I remember he threw his hands up in the air and said, "Man, I can't even get a job at McDonalds!"
John's predicament is not unique. Watch the video above and hear Kevin's story.
And so I developed a passion for finding a way to help people like John and Kevin earn an income even if they can't find a job. It had to meet the following criteria:
*** It must be something that a person without much education can do.
*** It must be something that is simple and can produce reliable income without a long learning curve.
*** It must be supported by a community of people who are already working the business successfully.
*** It must pass the "Quick Test" of successfully producing income within 30 days.
It took over a decade of discovering what didn't work, but I finally found it. We call it TOPwerx. It meets all of the criteria and passed the "Quick Test" with flying colors.
HOW TOPWERX WORKS
The business model is based on buying products to sell through online channels such as Amazon, eBay and Etsy. We sold dozens of products through our research and turned a healthy profit on everything we sold.
The training will be broken down into 5 phases and will take approximately one year to complete.
Phase 1: Help students develop the right mindset for their new business
Phase 2: Learn the technology
Phase 3: Learn where to get inventory (sourcing)
Phase 4: Advanced techniques for sourcing and selling
Phase 5: Running a business
Now, we are seeking support to begin our training program with at least 5 students in the first year. We hope to expand the training in Washington, DC and throughout Virginia. TOPwerx is designed to be completely self-sustaining in about a year and a half.
