Organizational Background & Mission: Taller San Jose walks under skilled, under employed as well as at risk young adults out of poverty by offering training and the hope of a productive self-reliant future. Taller San Jose was founded in 1995 by The Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange, CA in response to rising crime and gang violence in the City of Santa Ana. The city lacked resources for those plagued with being incarcerated, failing to finish high school and other barriers preventing members in the community to get there life back on track. Taller San Jose assists those between 18-28 years of age in job training, case management, stipend of $100.00 weekly, job readiness and life skills assisting them in preparing for the work future. We offer training in three major industries that run 16 weeks for the Construction and Office Training and 21 weeks for the Medical Billing and Clinical Medical Assisting training due to the externship component. We have partnered with Business’ in the community who assist in internships for the Office Training as well as our sponsor St. Joseph’s Hospital. Taller San Jose also has articulated our training curriculum for the Medical and Office training component with a Private University that offers credits for coursework completed here at Taller San Jose for our alumni to move onto to higher education.