Another Addition



RefugeeWorks is pleased to announce another addition to the blogging team -- Dawn Zuckerman!

A former Peace Corps volunteer, Dawn Zuckerman started at Jewish Family & Children's Service of Pittsburgh (JFCS) in 2005 as an intern while earning her Master's in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh.  She was hired upon graduation as an employment specialist, overseeing multiple employment programs for immigrants and refugees, including the Refugee Social Service Program and the Matching Grant Program.  

Dawn recently presented at Refugee Works Matching Grant Employment Training Institute held this past March in Atlanta. She has also developed and ran training sessions at the 2011 Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society conference, and at several conferences and consultations in Pennsylvania. One of her favorite topics to present on is “Culturally Competent Job Readiness Skills.”  Through her experiences and sensitivity to the cultural adjustment process, she has been able to streamline the job search process to a shorter timeframe while simultaneously producing higher outcomes for JFCS of Pittsburgh.

Look for her contributions on the blog to be out of the box and insightful. Be sure to leave comments with your thoughts!

P.S.  Email information@refugeeworks.org if you would like to contribute to the blog.  We are always looking for more voices, ideas, and thoughts about refugee employment.

Welcome to the Refugee Resource Room for Employment!

Exodus Refugee’s Resource Room opened in February, and staff has already had the pleasure of serving over 20 individual clients who are seeking employment support. Generously made possible through grant funds, this space is a drop-in computer lab for clients to complete job applications, do internet searches, and paper applications are of course always on hand! Clients can receive individualized employment support as the Resource Room is always staffed with both interns and Employment Staff!

Our Employment Department encourages clients to attend during open hours to discuss their individual employment efforts, needs, and concerns. Open 2 days a week for 2 hours at a time, this format provides a structured timeframe and environment to deliver employment services in a comprehensive way. Special considerations are always also made for clients who cannot attend during these hours and staff always does their best to accommodate clients’ individual scheduling needs. This service offered has also expanded to include workshops focused on resume building and writing, which also provides an excellent opportunity for community volunteers to get involved! Not only is this a great service to provide to our clients, but the time and materials donated may also be counted as “match” towards our Matching Grant Program.

One other resource available is the “interview clothes closet” where interview appropriate clothing for both men and women is available to clients if they need it before a job interview. Donations and a few bought items stock the “clothes closet”. Recently, a client who completed our Hospitality Training Program accessed items from the closet for a hotel housekeeping job interview at a local downtown hotel, and she was offered the job on the spot!

All of these services combined have created a space that is designed for our clients to have a place that is devoted entirely to them and their quest of obtaining and maintaining meaningful employment! Employment Staff is dedicated to taking any and all necessary steps to provide continuing support towards clients’ employment needs, which undoubtedly is THE gateway towards our ultimate goal of self-sufficiency!

What kinds of resources are available in your community to assist refugees who are seeking work?

UNHCR’s Inaugural Refugee Congress and ORR's Annual Consultation

The Office of Refugee Resettlement is accepting nominations for participation at ORR’s National Consultation on August 1-2, 2011 as well as UNHCR’s first Refugee Congress to be held immediately following the consultation on August 3-4, 2011.  Opportunities are available to participate in person as well as through special “Refugee Voices” media presentations.

Voluntary agencies, community based organizations, and MAAs are asked to submit nominations of refugees to participate, via their State Refugee Coordinators, by April 30^th.  State Refugee Coordinators will then forward a list of up to five (5) nominations from each state, and ORR and UNHCR will review the nominations upon receipt. 

For more information, read letters from ORR and UNHCR at http://www.refugeeworks.org/.

New GAO Report

Yesterday, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report titled, "Refugee Assistance: Little is Known About the Effectiveness of Different Approaches for Improving Refugees’ Employment Outcomes.”

You can view the report here: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11369.pdf