our PROGRAMS

Since 2015, The Elevation Project has been designing a new model for reentry — one rooted in dignity, opportunity, and ownership. We combine entrepreneurship, workforce development, reentry support, housing pathways, and community engagement to help justice-impacted people move from survival to stability and into leadership.

We assist formerly incarcerated individuals throughout their journey, from immediate release to long-term stability.

Since opening the Transformative Business Center in July 2022, we have served 85 individuals in seven cohorts. Only 4% of our participants have had contact with the justice system in two years. 

our core programs

Transformative Business Center

The Transformative Business Center is a community-based economic mobility hub advancing reentry, entrepreneurship, and workforce development for formerly incarcerated men. Through integrated wraparound services and business education, the TBC creates on-ramps to ownership, employment, and long-term stability.

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Four people sitting at tables in a classroom or meeting room, with laptops, drinks, and papers in front of them. One person is drinking from a cup, one person is wearing earbuds, another is raising his hand, and the fourth person is sitting with her head resting on her hand, wearing glasses.

Creating Legacies

As one of the first facilities of its kind in the country, the Transformative Business Center provides a supportive environment where formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs can build thriving businesses. Serving men over 18 years old from across Philadelphia, the center combines practical business support with comprehensive case management to ensure sustainable success. 

Key features include: 

  • Professional workspace equipped with industry-specific equipment and technical resources 

  • Small business workshop series 

  • One-on-one mentorship 

  • Access to business development support

Reentry Support Hub

A Safe Place to Start Again

The Reentry Support Hub is where people come to breathe, reset, and rebuild. Located in West Philadelphia, we offer wraparound reentry support rooted in dignity, care, and opportunity — helping people reconnect to housing, work, family, and purpose.

We provide:

  • Housing referrals

  • Employment support

  • Education and skills development

  • Mental health and recovery referrals

  • Family reunification

  • Mentorship and peer support

A classroom or community center filled with people sitting at tables, some using laptops, with a man standing on the right side talking to a group of four women and girls, while other individuals work or converse in the background.

Participatory Defense

Justice Is Stronger When the Community Shows Up

Participatory Defense is how we turn courtrooms into community spaces. We stand with families, organize court support, build mitigation stories, and advocate for fair outcomes — because nobody should fight the system alone.

This is people power in action.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Our community events meet people where they are. From record-clearing clinics and neighborhood give-backs to citywide gatherings, we bring families, advocates, and justice-impacted people together to remove barriers, restore dignity, and build real community.

Two basketball players and a referee stand on a basketball court, preparing for a game coin toss, with spectators seated in the bleachers behind them.