Halbert Sullivan

Ex-criminal offenders in the St. Louis region will get assistance in finding jobs through two new grants from the Department of Labor.

The Fathers' Support Center received a $1.4 million grant, and the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment is working with the Center to create more job training opportunities for former felons. The “Training to Work – Adult Reentry” grant will fund job training through Ranken Technical College.

This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon: June 11, 2008 - For 17 years, Lawrence Davis says, he did everything he thought a father was supposed to do.

He kept a roof over his children's heads; he fed them. He paid for their school, their clothes and their toys.