Higher & Hire Expectations — Right to Income

A single hallway can hide HVAC tinkerers, bilingual storytellers, retired accountants, and budding coders—yet rent money still leaks to outside contractors. By inventorying skills with a simple None · Know · Do · Train scale, the program surfaces talent that can cut costs or earn income on-site.

Committees often rely on the same three people. Without a pathway from “helper” to “role” to “paid lead,” energy fizzles, and critical tasks—like translating bylaws or analyzing budgets—get skipped. Badges and clear role charters make advancement visible and sustainable.

Residents juggling app-based delivery work struggle to show transferable skills. By issuing verifiable micro-credentials (Open Badges) and logging hours in an exportable ledger, the program converts community service into résumé-ready proof for unions, employers, or small-business lenders.

Many grant-based stipends cease after a pilot, leaving residents high and dry. Higher & Hire Expectations links stipends to “leaderboard” engagement and trains badge-earners to pitch their services to nearby buildings—extending income beyond the grant cycle.

Generic workforce programs assume fluent English and formal résumés. Our badge lessons use plain language, icon navigation, and audio narration in English, Spanish, and Amharic—so residents learn at their own pace and prove competency without perfect grammar.