After serving a 12-month prison sentence, Simon Fenech couldn’t find a job. Potential employers would turn him away as soon as they found out about his past.

And Simon’s not alone. In Australia, only 22% of former prisoners find a job within two weeks of being released. Yet many returning citizens just need a chance to turn their lives around.

And that’s exactly what Fruit2Work offers.

The social enterprise delivers fresh fruit boxes, milk and pantry items to workplaces across Melbourne, Geelong and Ballarat. It also runs a vending business which primarily services the construction and infrastructure sectors although is expanding this service into the service sector. In doing so, it helps people transition from the justice system back into society by providing meaningful employment opportunities, training and experiences. Fruit 2 Work also provides wrap around services that include its Build a Better You (BABY) program – 20 training modules around the soft skills required for reintegration.

Creating a Ripple Effect ↓

Getting a chance back means that Simon took the chance and is now the general manager and an executive Director of Fruit2work today.

“It has changed my life,” he says. “It makes me want to do the right thing and stay on the right track because I now have people who look up to me.”

Fruit2Work’s impact shines a light on the ripple effects through society of meaningful, secure employment.

It starts by giving people like Simon a sense of purpose.

“There’s no greater joy than having people who came from the same background I have, walking in the same shoes I did and watching them grow. Being part of a program that helps returning citizens has become a passion of mine,” he says.

Since opening its doors in 2016, the social enterprise has employed over 150 people impacted by the justice system – with zero recidivism. An incredible result as in Victoria nearly half (44%) of people will reoffend and return to prison within two years and 60% within five years. And when you consider that the social impact costs of incarceration can add up to $500,000 per person per year, it’s a significant saving for the Victorian government and the taxpayer.

Recently, Fruit 2 Work has been able to quantify its impact in economic terms. Through Sefa Partnership’s 2023 Social Enterprise Growth Incubator program, the social enterprise was introduced to Australian Social Value Bank (ASVB). ASVB helped the team by analysing key organisational, societal impact and economic data to calculate Fruit2Work’s impact.

The results speak for themselves: for every dollar the organisation spends on its program, it saves society $8, or in other words, an 8:1 return on social impact investment if you invest in F2W.

Being able to show such a tangible impact has been a game-changer for Fruit 2 Work, helping create trust and credibility with partners and potential funders as the ROI is calculated by an independent 3rd party organisation using very sophisticated algorithms that evaluate social return on investment.

The organisation’s success comes down to balance – a careful equilibrium of business and purpose and diversity.

The team is very diverse in thought, skills and background, bringing a unique balance to problem solving. Fruit2Work Chief Chance Creator Rob Brown has spent 35 years running businesses all over the world, bringing sharp commercial acumen to the team. His empathy and drive, stemming from lived experience, set the organisation’s North Star – always putting purpose before profits.

### Growing Impact Sustainably ↓

Fruit2Work’s success means the social enterprise continues to see rapid growth. It has seen revenue grow from $400,000 to over $8.5 million in just eight years – allowing the organization to increase its impact. It has built a loyal client base of over 1200 unique customers across Melbourne covering almost every sector from financial services and government to higher education and professional services. Now, the organisation is looking to test its ability to expand in Victoria & then operate interstate and plans to be fully operational in New South Wales & Queensland within three years.

But growing so rapidly brings a number of fantastic challenges. One key issue the leadership team wanted to address during the PRF incubator was making sure its increasing number of employees received the right wrap-around support as they knew their hands-on approach was not scalable.

“Listening to other organisations’ approaches to this challenge helped us develop an outsourced model that includes on-call psychologists and other support services, supplemented & driven by our own inhouse forensic psychology who spent more than 10 years counselling behind prison walls,” says Rob.

Thanks to this model, Fruit2Work employees can access a forensic psychologist, who acts as a triage point – either helping people with their concerns or referring them to the right place. And with strong partnerships in place, employees also have access to First Step Counselling and Westpac’s Employee Assistance Program.

Wraparound services for the current cohort cost around $1 million for a year, and philanthropic investment is being sought to ensure Fruit2Work can continue to provide the high quality, holistic services that are instrumental in recidivism.

_“The highlight for me every day is seeing people disguised as losers becoming winners, finding coal turning it into diamonds by creating a chance & applying the right amount of pressure, it’s an incredible thing to witness” - Rob Brown, Chief Chance Creator of Fruit2Work_