The History

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PIVOT Services, Inc. is the actualized vision of its founder and Executive Director, Jerome Pitchford. 

 

Conceptualized in 2008, Jerome has spent the last eight years immersed in the community enhancing his sensitivity to the varied needs relative to job readiness, soft skill development, recidivism, and educational deprivation.   

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Realizing the continued downturn in the community relative to unemployment, varied criminal activity, violence and academic achievement, PIVOT‘s purpose is to help meet the needs of the central city of Milwaukee through work force and social skills development, and educational programming. 

 

Its purpose is to equip individuals for successful careers, healthy relationships, and positive community citizenship.  

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The Challenge

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• Two out of three young African American men without a high school diploma will spend time in prison.

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• Wisconsin incarcerates Blacks at nearly eleven (11) times the rate at which it incarcerates whites.

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• Wisconsin has highest rate of Black incarceration in the nation.

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• The estimated graduation rate for African American males enrolled in Milwaukee Public Schools is only forty (40%) percent

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• Employment opportunities available in 21st century Milwaukee will be in health care and other service industries that require more than unskilled or semi-skilled backgrounds.

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• For most individuals with children, completion of, at least, an associate's degree will be required for a reasonable standard of living.

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• Disparate treatment of African American males by the criminal justice system is helping to destroy African American families and communities.

• More African American men in the nation are in prison, in jail, on parole, or on probation than were enslaved in 1850.

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• Two out of three young African American men without a high school diploma will spend time in prison.

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• If present trends continue, one in three Black males, born today, regardless of educational background, can expect to spend time in prison during his lifetime.

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• Wisconsin spends approximately $716,589,920 per year to operate its adult correctional facilities.

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• Fifty percent (50%) of offenders engage in recidivism within three years did so within the first year following release from prison.

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The Response

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PIVOT Services has strategically placed its offices in the heart of the Milwaukee’s near north side area to assure clients easy access to training, workforce development and placement, computer services, and ancillary support systems.  PIVOT Services is located at 1220 West Atkinson Ave., in the neighborhood that is commonly known as Arlington Heights. 

 

Strategically located in the neighborhood we venture to serve, PIVOT endeavors to provide the tools needed for mental, emotional, and academic development. PIVOT clients’ utilization of these tools will equip and prepare them to achieve successful careers, healthy relationships, and positive community citizenship.

 

PIVOT Services is committed to providing a variety of educational, recreational, and social service programs to address the essential and changing needs of the families of Milwaukee.