Worship Sundays at 9 am
This content has been archived. It may no longer be relevant
As you work with people in our community to alleviate poverty, you may ask yourself, “Why don’t these people just get a job?” Or you may have thought, “If this person just had a good, steady job, then they would be able to take care of themselves.” And isn’t that part of the purpose of every person – to work, create, produce, contribute to society while taking care of themselves and their families?
If you’ve thought this in the past, I think you might be interested in joining a community ministry to help people get and keep good jobs.
“WorkLife of SoMD” is a network of churches and businesses working together to alleviate poverty in Southern Maryland by teaching willing participants soft job skills, encouraging them through mentorship and friendship, and empowering them through employment. WorkLife of SoMD uses a program called Work Life, produced by the Chalmers Center for Economic Development (in partnership with Jobs for Life and Advance Memphis). This is the same organization that produced the book, When Helping Hurts, and many other related resources.
There are 3 parts to Work Life:
- The Work Life curriculum uses biblical principles, proven job-skills training techniques, and engaging adult learning methods to ensure the participants understand and internalize the information.
- Work Life also incorporates mentors, called “Allies,”to provide the relational/friendship support that people so need when trying to make big life changes… and this support continues throughout the first 6 months or year after graduation.
- Work Life also works with employers with the intent to provide each graduate a job opportunity, as well as providing interactive training by employers during the course itself.
Work Life is planning to start the first class in January, 2017. This first class will include interested and qualified participants from the W.A.R.M. program, but will also include participants from the broader community, too.
How can people get involved? There are 2 main ways to be part of the program:
- Allies are a type of mentor that journeys with a participant as they learn and grow. Allies do not have to attend all classes, but be ready to help participants apply lessons to real life.
- Business partners help provide jobs, help the program network with other employers, and can participate in classes (running mock interviews, etc.).
We know your time is valuable, so instead of trying to explain everything here, we are providing a list of resources that you or interested people in your congregation can investigate, AND we are going to hold 2 informational meetings for those that want to learn more and have questions. Learn more by connecting to the video below.
The two Informational Meetings are:
- Thursday, October 20, 7:00pm at Lexington Park United Methodist Church
- Thursday, October 27, 7:00pm at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church
Thanks for being a partner in the Kingdom!