Breaktime United, Inc.

Breaking the cycle of young adult homelessness

Boston, MA   |  https://www.breaktime.org

Mission

Breaktime is a Boston-based nonprofit working to end young adult homelessness through purposeful transitional employment and financial empowerment. We empower young adults experiencing homelessness to secure stable employment and permanent housing while bolstering the health of their communities.

Ruling year info

2019

Executive Director

Connor Shoen

Main address

170 Portland Street

Boston, MA 02482 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

84-2301372

NTEE code info

Employment Training (J22)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Young adults experiencing homelessness often go through a vicious cycle of housing insecurity where their lack of experience prevents them from obtaining stable employment and systemic hiring practices (like the requirement of a home address) result in their automatic ineligibility. Without the support and advocacy required to obtain a livable wage, at-risk youth are left cycling in and out of shelters and rehabilitation programs without enough foundation to re-enter the workforce and survive on their own.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Launchpad

This 8-day, 2-week program teaches the young adults we work with basic communication, conflict resolution, and financial literacy skills. By the end of this comprehensive learning module, youth we work with become comfortable operating in a professional environment and gain the skills and confidence needed to launch their careers.

Population(s) Served
Young adults
At-risk youth
Adolescents

Where we work

Awards

30 Under 30 2021

Forbes

Our Sustainable Development Goals

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

Breaktime seeks to break the cycle of a young adult's experience with housing insecurity. We aim to equip, engage, and empower youth with the skills, support, and confidence they need to succeed in today's work environment.

1) Partnership and advocation
-Breaktime uses a partnership model for young adult referrals, on-site work experience, and stable employment opportunities. We seek to engage both nonprofit and for-profit partners to move quickly in educating, hiring, and supporting our at-risk youth.

2) Policy
-Breaktime works with lawmakers to enact powerful legislative action that will right the systemic flaws, including implicit hiring biases, resulting in cyclical housing insecurity.

3) Purpose and People
-Breaktime moves with purpose in everything we do. Our young adult constituents are at the center of our model for pipelining success. With a constituent obsession centered around this at-risk population Breaktime's actions follow suit allowing us to prioritize solving for immediately impactful issues and to hire accordingly.

Breaktime has a team of full-time staff working in policy, programs, partnerships and development/fundraising allowing us to provide the wages needed to subsidize work experiences for our youth, advocate for inclusive legislature, run educational and skill building programs, and partner with organizations for the long-term success and mentorship of our young adults.

We believe we are fully capable of meeting our goals and will push forward in enacting long-lasting change within housing insecure populations.

Policy: Breaktime has pushed forward Amendment 744 requiring BIPOC and LGBTQ (two populations that disproportionately make up youth experience homelessness) individuals to be included as a priority in Massachusetts' youth employment programming.

Partnerships and advocation: Breaktime has partnered with more than 10 different job placement and youth referral partners to not only find youth experiencing homelessness, but also to provide them with the on-site experience they will need to land a permanent job.

Purpose and People: Breaktime's "Double Impact; initiative has created more than 40 transitional employment jobs allowing for the service of more than 700,000 meals to those in need in and around the Boston area.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback

Financials

Breaktime United, Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

Breaktime United, Inc.

Board of directors
as of 02/25/2022
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Connor Shoen

Breaktime United, Inc.

Jessica Castro

Trefler Foundation

Gary Pforzheimer

PG Calc

Grace Sterling Stowell

BAGLY

Mikayla Woodberry

Boston Public Health Comission

Bob Heckart

Y2Y Harvard Square

Tony Shu

Breaktime United, Inc.

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Not applicable
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Not applicable
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 2/4/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Sexual orientation
Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, or other sexual orientations in the LGBTQIA+ community

Race & ethnicity

No data

Gender identity

No data

Transgender Identity

No data

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.

Equity strategies

Last updated: 06/25/2021

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
  • We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
  • We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.