Ready, Willing, and Able Program
Image: doe.org
Lianne McNally is an experienced writer, producer, and director whose credits include the Academy Award-nominated short documentary Artists and Orphans: A True Drama. In addition to documentary work, Lianne McNally makes films for nonprofit organizations, as well as commercial clients. She wrote, produced, and directed The Way Home, a short video for the Doe Fund that detailed one avenue of relief for the problem of homelessness in New York City.
The Doe Fund’s Ready, Willing, and Able program is one of the most respected transitional work programs in the United States, having transitioned more than 22,000 men who had been incarcerated or homeless back to mainstream society since 1990. The program serves more than 1,000 men at any instance through three residential facilities in Brooklyn and Harlem. Participants in the program are given the opportunity to earn pay by cleaning New York City streets and sidewalks, while also taking mandatory classes in subjects such as financial management, adult literacy, and relapse prevention.
Additional educational opportunities are offered, as well as paid occupational training in a variety of growing sectors. Participants also receive assistance with job and apartment hunting upon completing the program. Results of the program show that 78 percent of graduates maintain their job after six months, and an independent Harvard study found that graduates are 60 percent less likely to be charged with a felony three years after completing the program.
Lianne McNally 
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