By John W. Fountain — Washington Post Staff Writer

One heart at a time. One mind at a time. One man at a time.That is the aim of

a national organization working to build strong African American families by

leading fathers back down the road of responsibility.The Institute for

Responsible Fatherhood and Family Revitalization announced yesterday that it

has received a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor to train

about 500 non-custodial fathers across the country over the next year and to

help them find jobs or, in

some cases, better jobs. At a news conference at a Northeast Washington

housing complex, Charles A. Ballard, the institute’s CEO and founder, said the

federal welfare-to-work grant gives a boost to the group’s existing Employment

Opportunities Program.

“The whole idea here is to reduce the welfare roll,”

Ballard said. “This is a put-men-to-work program. It’s not just finding him a

job, but finding him a new attitude.”The new campaign will focus on men who

live in targeted “high-risk” areas of the six cities where the institute has

offices. In addition to the District, the cities are Cleveland, Milwaukee,San

Diego, Nashville and Yonkers, N.Y.

Many of the men who will receive training are without steady employment

experience and lack education or job skills. Some are ex-offenders and former

drug addicts. Ballard said the $4.5 million price tag is a fraction of the

cost to incarcerate for a year the same number of men it intends to train.

The campaign’s kickoff was announced at Paradise at

Parkside Apartments on Hayes Street NE. Among those in attendance was Mayor

Marion Barry, who commended the group for its effort to help at least 80

jobless or unemployed fathers in Ward 7 qualify for and find gainful

employment.The end result, organizers insist, is not simply to help men find

better jobs, but to help them begin to see themselves through the prism of

possibility.”There are jobs out there. The problem is with the heart,” said

Bruce M. Jenkins, 42, who manages the institute’s office in Northeast, which

has been targeted. “Employers say: ‘People we can get. But people with the

right mind is what we’re looking for.’ “Organizers say their Employment

Opportunities Program aims to succeed where similar

job-training programs have fallen short. In some similar programs, Ballard

said, men have completed training courses and received certificates only to

find no jobs waiting.

The institute will provide the link to employment, working with the American

Institute for Full Employment, a national organization that provides support

for job placement. Part of the initial task in training participants is to

create a “comprehensive master plan” for each man in the program after he has

undergone a needs assessment, officials said. The training will incorporate

such topics as professional attire and etiquette, in addition to placement

assistance and follow-up counseling once a person lands a job.

Although the program’s welfare-to-work campaign wasn’t announced officially

until yesterday, officials said they began working under the new mandate in

July and already have helped 10 men get jobs.

The institute, which is based in Washington, has gained national recognition

for its success in encouraging men to be good fathers and in reuniting fathers

with their children.The program provides counseling, support groups and

mentoring by successful fathers. Under the program’s guidelines, men who

participate must establish paternity, finish their high school educations and

get jobs. Its office in Northeast Washington opened in May 1995 and has worked

with more than 100 men, 75 women and 150 children, officials said.

“My relationship with my son is better. I got in touch with myself,” said

Leroy Ware, 47, an ex-offender who sought the services of the institute two

years ago.”Some of the teachings made me more aware of the situation with

myself,” said Ware, adding that he now counsels female ex-offenders. “It’s

like a light bulb.”