Preparing people for careers.

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Author: Armstrong, Linda1

When most people think of New York Cares, a non-profit organization, located at 214 W. 29th Street, and begun almost 20 years ago with the express purpose of bringing New York-based organizations and resident volunteers together, they usually think of the annual coat drive that New York Cares runs every December to gather and distribute warm winter coats to needy New Yorkers, but this organization does so much more. One of the programs it has, which falls under its Education and Technology Program, is a Job Readiness Program.

This program is run from many locations, as New York Cares volunteers are sent to different agencies that the non-profit works with. "Sometimes clients are people in the shelter and transitional housing situation or people who are associated with an agency and looking for work â€" they are employed or unemployed. We work at the computer resource centers at different Parks Department locations to teach computer skills. We work at organizations like the Human Resource Administration. We work with clients on GED and ESL, and agencies that work with immigrants," explained Meg Moloney, Director of the Education and Technology Program.

Reflecting on the increased need for the Job Readiness Program, Moloney said, "It's been in different sizes for some time, but it's been a pretty robust program since September 11th because a lot of people needed to get jobs. People who had a job that they lost found that the new market required them to have more job skills, whether it was getting more proficient in English, getting computer skills or getting their GED."

The program teaches several job skills. The computer literacy portion does computer work and basic applications like Excel and PowerPoint, and teaches Internet navigation. In a resume workshop, a volunteer works with clients to capture their previous work history and skills and craft that into a professional resume. In mock interviewing and personal skills training, people work on how to get ready for a professional interview, and standard interview procedure like sending thank you notes.

Job readiness skills are extremely important, according to Moloney. "They're important because though New York City's economy is getting better, there are still a lot of people who struggle to find jobs and get the skills they need in an affordable way. The volunteers from New York Cares are doing this free of charge and allowing the agencies they work with to serve more clients than they would if there weren't volunteers. If a client in a shelter gets employed faster, then they will probably get housing faster," Moloney said.

Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer and working with the Job Readiness Program needs to go to New York Cares' website, nycares.org, and sign up for a one-hour orientation. After that you let them know you want to volunteer for the Adult Education part of the Education and Technology Program. Because the job readiness program is run at different organizations, it happens on different days and hours; however, programs usually occur after work Monday through Thursday and on Saturdays.

If job readiness is not your interest, there are other areas that also fall under Adult Education, including Apartment Search Skills, Financial Literacy, ESL, GED, and basic education things like book clubs with seniors and women in shelters. If you want more information, call on volunteering at New York Cares.

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By Linda Armstrong, Special to the AmNews