ACE, providing hope and jobs to those who need it the most.

      Since 1997, more than 1000 recovering homeless men and women have turned to cleaning New York City sidewalks in an attempt to turn their lives around. They are a part of Project Comeback, a program provided by the Association of Community Employment for the Homeless (ACE), a SoHo-based nonprofit organization. The program provides job training, work experience, and a support network for people seeking to transition into full-time employment. 

     "Our goal is not to train them to be street sweepers, our goal is to teach them - or re-teach them - how to work," said Jim Martin, executive director of the program. "We're foundation builders."

      The organization was founded in 1992 when SoHo resident Henry Buhl began offering street cleaning jobs to homeless people. The program later expanded into the SoHo Partnership, the TriBeCa Partnership and the NoHo/Bowery Partnership. In 2010 they consolidated under the name ACE.

Henry Buhl and the SoHo Partnership

      "I would use any drug I could take, I was sleeping in the subway," said Robert Bowman a program graduate of 2006 and assistant supervisor to the ACE street crews. "ACE gave me a chance and I took it. Now I'm in a position where people trust me and I can't look back at what I've done - I have to keep moving forward."

      ACE provides two programs. Project Comeback offers work experience, computer and literacy classes, individual counseling, courses on how to find or keep employment and even attire for job interviews, said Jim Martin.  Patients must be referred to ACE from outpatient facilities, shelters, or substance abuse programs. 

      Every year ACE holds graduation ceremonies for those who completed the program by securing permanent, full-time employment. On March 31st, the spring graduation will take place, celebrating the return of 15 participants into the working world.  

      "You see people make gains - you see their lives change in a short amount of time," Jim Martin said.

      Even after graduation, ACE makes sure participants continue on the right track and stay employed through Project Stay, said Bowman. 

      The program is privately funded, and relies on donations from private donors and businesses located on each cleaning route. 

      "These are tough times for not for profits," Jim Martin said. Broadway in SoHo, a key route for the organization, has become a financial concern, he said. If ACE cannot raise enough money from Broadway's businesses soon, it will have to abandon the route Jun. 30th. 
      "The bigger mega-stores are hesitant to participate - I've chased that money for years with staff," Jim Martin said. "That corridor without maintenance services will be a disaster. All I want to do is break even to the penny."

      "Mr. Buhl loves having us out on Broadway and the summer season is so hectic," said Steve Martin, a program graduate from 2007 and head supervisor to the cleaning crews. "We are hoping more businesses will donate and keep the services going."

     Graduates like Bowman and Steve Martin take pride in being a part of the process that once helped them.

     "I'm not going to brag or anything but I think Jim saw in me what I see in myself when I'm doing right," Steve Martin said. "I'm five years clean from drugs and alcohol and my life has been great - I wouldn't give it back for anything."

      The essence of the organization seems to be taped to Jim Martin's door, "Don't tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results."