Semi truck on an open highway at sunrise

Birmingham's workforce-to-stability system

Training, housing, and a job that lasts — in one coordinated pathway.

ACE is not just a CDL school. It's a coordinated system spanning CDL training, reentry support, transitional housing, agency navigation, employer placement, and 30/60/90-day retention — so a career can actually take hold, not just start.

As Seen on CBS42Watch the ACE CDL feature

Start CDL Training Need Housing Support?Refer Someone / Partner With ACE

START FUNDING & ENROLLMENT PROCESS

Explore WIOA, self-pay, payment-plan, private-financing, and partner-referral options. Funding may be available to qualified students and is subject to agency or lender approval.

Submitting an application does not guarantee funding, financing, enrollment, or acceptance. Only authorized ACE admissions leadership may approve enrollment.

Requirements, third-party charges, and government fees may change. ACE will provide the current funding and enrollment checklist after an application is submitted.

What makes ACE different

Most programs solve one piece. ACE coordinates all of them.

A CDL school teaches you to drive. A housing program gives you a bed. A workforce agency handles funding. ACE coordinates training, support, placement, and retention in one delivery model — because the pieces that usually break a person's progress are the ones between the credential and the job that lasts.

CDL Training

Class A and Class B commercial license instruction through ACE CDL Driver Training Institute in Birmingham.

Reentry & Justice-Involved Specialization

Intake and support built for people coming home from incarceration — not a program that asks you to pretend your past didn't happen.

Healing Within Housing

Transitional housing that stabilizes life around training so a license and a job can actually take hold.

Workforce-Agency Navigation

We help you determine funding readiness and navigate the agency process — not leave you to figure it out alone.

Employer Placement

Direct connections to hiring employers built around real openings, not a job board you're left to scroll.

30/60/90-Day Retention

Follow-up after placement to help the job last — because getting hired and staying employed are different problems.

Three ways in

One coordinated system, three entry points

ACE recruits, assesses, trains, supports, credentials, and connects Alabama residents — including people facing employment barriers — to high-demand occupations and employers.

CDL Training

ACE CDL Driver Training Institute prepares adults for a commercial driving career with structured classroom and yard instruction.

Start CDL Training

Housing Support

Healing Within Transitional Housing provides stabilization so training and employment can actually stick.

Need Housing Support?

Agency & Employer Partnerships

Coordinated intake, referral, and placement support for workforce boards, agencies, and hiring employers.

Partner With ACE

Adults in a workforce development classroom with an instructor

As Featured on CBS42

“Your past doesn’t close our door.”

Michael Gunn — Founder, ACE Workforce Solutions

He came home from prison with few options and a family to provide for. He completed CDL training through ACE, earned his commercial license, and was hired behind the wheel. He went on to marry his children’s mother and rebuild his life — a story featured on CBS42.

Watch His CBS42 Story Start Your Pathway

How the pathway works

Stabilize → Train → Credential → Connect → Retain

A sequence, not a brochure. Each stage has an owner, a checkpoint, and a hand-off — so nothing falls through the cracks between a bed, a license, and a job that lasts.

Step 1
Stabilize
Housing, documentation, and barriers addressed first.
Step 2
Train
Classroom and yard instruction at ACE CDL Driver Training Institute.
Step 3
Credential
Earn the commercial license employers require.
Step 4
Connect
Employer placement and agency coordination.
Step 5
Retain
30/60/90-day follow-up so the job actually sticks.

CDL Orientation

Orientation — Every Thursday at 10:00 AM

Meet the training team, review the CDL pathway, and learn what funding and support options may be available for your situation. No cost to attend.

Healing Within Transitional Housing

Housing status you can actually check

Availability is published from our operational system, not guessed. If it cannot be verified, we say so and route you to a person.

Accepting Inquiries — Limited Availability

Safe. Structured. Supportive.

Housing inquiries receive a response within 1 business day. Submitting an inquiry is not a reservation or a guarantee of placement — every placement is reviewed for eligibility, screening, and current availability.

Safe Environment

Structured, accountable transitional housing that gives participants a stable, secure base while they focus on training and employment.

Program Integration

Housing is coordinated with ACE CDL Driver Training Institute so schedules, transportation, and program milestones line up.

Wraparound Support

Case coordinators help navigate documentation, appointments, and the practical barriers that can derail progress.

Submit a Housing Inquiry Call 800-795-4217 Refer a Participant

Placement is subject to eligibility, screening, program fit, and current availability. No resident identities, room assignments, or case details are published on this site.

Partners & referrals

Refer a participant or build a placement pipeline

Case managers, probation and reentry staff, workforce boards, and employers can work with a single coordinated intake.

Refer Someone Agency Partnerships Hire ACE Graduates