Why Don’t They Just Get a Job?
One couple’s mission to end poverty in their community
Liane Phillips and Echo Montgomery Garrett

This book describes how and why Liane and Dave Phillips have been able to put thousands of people to work and help them transition out of poverty. The organization they created to do just that in a sustainable way is called Cincinnati Works. This book is a personal journey, as well as a how-to for other communities and individuals interested in fighting poverty and its effects. The message is strong:
  • There is a solution to poverty.
  • It is cost-effective.
  • Other communities can do this.

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Poverty to self-sufficiency through work

This book offers a unique, proven business model that has a huge heart and benefits for the whole country.

What's the difference?

There's no question Cincinnati Works is different from other poverty-to-work programs. Its founders, Liane and Dave Phillips, are a unique combination of head and heart, vision and action, personal achievement and public concern. The real difference here is the holistic nature of the program, the positive view of their clients, and the unprecedented, data-supported results. Why Don't They Just Get A Job? details those results, the visionary work that went into realizing them, the moving stories of lives transformed, and, most importantly, the realistic opportunity to bring sustainable prosperity to individuals and communities across the United States by using this model.
Authors:
Liane Phillips currently serves as co-founder of the award-winning Cincinnati Works, which she began along with her husband of 50 years, Dave Phillips. The 2009 Manhattan Institute’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative Award, the 2005 Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, and, that same year, a Best Practices Back-to-Work Program from The American Institute for Full Employment are just a few of the accolades their nonprofit has received. A lifelong humanitarian, Liane has led the way in drug and child abuse prevention and in literacy, self-sufficiency, and career development programs. Liane and Dave make their home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Echo Montgomery Garrett is an award-winning career journalist and author of numerous books, including My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change and Dream No Little Dreams, the story of Clay Mathile and The Iams Company. Her work has been published in more than 75 national magazines, newspapers, and websites, and she has been featured in many television and radio broadcasts, including "Good Morning America." Her humanitarian work includes serving as a board member for Gift for a Child/The Heart Gallery Southeast, a foster care adoption program, and The Ruby Slipper Project, which grants interior design makeovers to families in need. She lives in Marietta, Georgia.
A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated by the authors to further the efforts of Cincinnati Works.
Cincinnati Works' dream:

Cincinnati Works works. See this program’s results.

Our fervent hope is that others will adopt the concepts embodied by Cincinnati Works and that our model will take root, grow, and thrive throughout our nation. This model allows impoverished families to experience the dignity that comes with self-sufficiency and, most importantly, brings hope for the future to the millions of men, women, and children who reside in the long shadow of poverty.
Goals:
  • To enable those in poverty to become economically self-sufficient and take control of their lives
  • To meet employers’ demand for productive and reliable entry level workers in the Cincinnati region
  • To save taxpayer dollars by systematically reducing the number of people receiving public assistance
  • To become the catalyst among the jobs programs in the Cincinnati region for systematically reducing the number of people living in poverty by 1–3% annually
Mission statement:

Cincinnati Works will partner with all willing and capable people in poverty/welfare recipients to assist them in escaping poverty through the acquisition and retention of self-supporting jobs.

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