Help us cross the finish line - make your donation to JobTrain today!

As we near the end of our annual Holiday Campaign, we would like to announce that we are very close to achieving our goal – you can help us cross the finish line by making a donation today!

JobTrain closed out 2014 by providing job training and supportive services to over 8,000 people throughout the Bay Area.  Your gift will help a student like Raina, a Project Build graduate who spent a decade in and out of prison before turning her life around with help from a partnership between the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and JobTrain.  When Raina was chosen to represent her graduating class she had this to say, “JobTrain has helped to change my life for the better.  I’ve learned at JobTrain that if I can find the courage to follow my dreams, the doors of opportunity become endless.”  Today Raina is a member of Carpenters Union Local 217.

To help JobTrain reach our goal, you may make a donation from our safe and secure donation site by CLICKING HERE, or you may contact Reshma Putnam at (650) 330-6436 or rputnam@jobtrainworks.org.  Your gift will be matched by donations from JobTrain’s Board of Directors and community champions. 

Thank you for helping those most in need to succeed!

What If Failure Were Not An Option?

This is the time of year when I think about “what if.”  What if everyone started life with a safe place to live, to learn, and with enough to eat?

Having spent a year at JobTrain, I have another “what if” on my list.  What if we truly believed that everyone has the potential for a better life?  Instead of “x-ing” people out and limiting ourselves to those we let in, we decided that everyone should be included?  What if we believed failure was not an option? 

When faced with scarce resources, our communities often respond with choosing people we know will succeed.  What if, instead, we decided that everyone had potential, and that those most in need could succeed?  What if we developed a set of supports and programs, in an atmosphere where everything was geared to helping people realize this potential and where everyone believed in them and insisted that they not give up? 

A young man recently spoke of his time at JobTrain.  Everything around him was dragging him down a path he knew would lead nowhere.  He didn’t really believe in himself.  Everyone at JobTrain kept telling him: “we know it may seem easier to fail, to not try, to not make it.  But, that isn’t an option here… we won’t let you.”  He began to see that a new life was possible.  Today, he runs his own business and even employs JobTrain students.  He said that this was the first time and place, anywhere he had ever been, where the only option was to succeed.

JobTrain’s own numbers demonstrate the impact of this approach: 89% graduate.  Over the past several years, our graduates have gone on to collectively earn millions of dollars of wages, and for those who have been incarcerated, are more likely to be employed than go back to jail. 

Our new Three Year Strategic Plan is a vision for JobTrain’s future, created by supporters, friends, and community members who know that in a world where failure is not an option, fewer people fail.  More people find a path to success, where they contribute to the community, prosper, and grow.  This in turn leads to a world where fewer and fewer people are hungry, homeless, and cold. 

We are so grateful to our community, our supporters, and our champions, who believe, as JobTrain does, that failure is not an option.  Thank you for your continued support and may you have a joyous holiday season.   

To learn more, or to support JobTrain, please CLICK HERE.

Nora Sobolov

Executive Director

JobTrain Named A 2014 Top-Rated Nonprofit

JobTrain is pleased to announce that it is one of the winners of the 2014 Top-Rated Awards by GreatNonprofits.  Founded in 2007, GreatNonprofits is the leading provider of reviews and ratings of nonprofit organizations throughout the United States, as well as a developer of tools that allow people to find, review, and share information about nonprofits and charities.

Friends, partners, and other stakeholders of JobTrain helped make this award possible by sharing their real-life experiences with JobTrain on the GreatNonprofits website over the last few months.  JobTrain is truly honored to receive this special award.

To view JobTrain’s page on the GreatNonprofits website, please click here!

State of the Nonprofit

I’m writing to share with you JobTrain’s 2014 Three Year Strategic Plan, our 2014 Annual Report and our 2014 Report to Stakeholders.  While it is hard to capture the transformative power of JobTrain’s work on paper, these reports will tell you what we do, how we do it, the impact we have had and where we are going in the near future

JobTrain's Three Year Strategic Plan was created in extensive consultation with our many stakeholders.  As we plan to celebrate our 50th year, we are exploring exciting new opportunities to raise awareness, further share our model, expand our impact, develop ongoing revenue that will add to our long-term sustainability, and provide the on-the-job training that our students need.  In future years, our Report to Stakeholders will explain how JobTrain performed against our goals.

Click here to see JobTrain's Three Year Strategic Plan

Our Annual Report is a brief overview of who JobTrain served, how we served them, and the impact we had in the community. 

Click here to see JobTrain’s Annual Report

Our 2014 Report to Stakeholders is a new report.  Here we explain in more detail how JobTrain works, why it uses the model it does, why it is unique, where it fits in the workforce landscape, and how it allocates its resources. 

Click here to see the JobTrain’s 2014 Report to Stakeholders

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback.

Thank you so much for your continued partnership to help ensure those most in need succeed. 

Nora Sobolov

Executive Director

A New Way to Solve an Old Problem

BluBridge VP of Business Development Josh Amrani addresses JobTrain's 30th Annual Breakfast of Champions

With pockets of unemployment still at historic levels in some Silicon Valley neighborhoods, Josh Amrani, Vice President of Business Development at BluBridge Solutions in Menlo Park, had an idea. His company wanted to partner with JobTrain in a unique way: providing a percentage of their sales to support student success in JobTrain’s Project Build construction training program. This partnership signaled the beginning of the 20 Scholarship Fund initiative.

BluBridge started in France more than fifteen years ago, developing software for construction and public works companies of all sizes. Since then, it has helped more than 30,000 users worldwide by simplifying operating procedures through a fully integrated estimating, project management and scheduling software to ensure business costs are controlled and profits are maximized. In July, the company established its first division in North and South America. Amrani says BluBridge is excited that the company has already sponsored one student in Project Build and is looking forward to many more. When asked why BluBridge wanted to help launch this new initiative, Josh had this to say:

“That’s easy to answer, as construction picks up in the Silicon Valley and San Francisco Bay Area, general contractors say they have a hard time finding well-trained, reliable workers to hire. JobTrain is known for its high caliber training of folks, many of whom had found themselves unemployable. We are proud to help fund the opportunity for people to turn their lives around.”

The 20 Scholarship Fund was born to allow corporations and individuals to invest directly in the success of our students at JobTrain. Each $10,000 scholarship will allow one student to receive comprehensive training and supportive services in a JobTrain program, which includes one-on-one counseling, school supplies, work uniforms and job placement services. In its foundational year, we are aiming to find investment for twenty scholarships and will build the program in the future. We have already received pledges for the 20 Scholarship Fund and the program continues to grow. Donors may choose a particular vocational training area for their investment. Included among the benefits to be received by the scholarship fund’s sponsors are:

• A special video thank you from a student graduate which can be used on your website and in promotional materials.

• A virtual plaque commemorating your scholarship gift, to be displayed on our website with a link to your website if you so choose.

• A Corporate banner or logo to be displayed in your student’s classroom.

Nora Sobolov, Executive Director of JobTrain, says, “We are thrilled by the support and enthusiasm of BluBridge. As a neighbor of ours in Menlo Park, Josh Amrani and BluBridge Professional Services Manager Izzy Huskic have spent many hours working with our students and learning about our programs. Their sponsorship and their initial contribution to kick off our 20 Scholarship Fund will enable us to help even more people hurt by the economy and life events. BluBridge has also donated thirty software licenses for students to use in Project Build.”

JobTrain is also proud to announce that the Chamberlain Family, Patrick Pichette and TE Connectivity have also joined the 20 Scholarship Fund initiative in order to support the individual efforts of students to improve their lives and the lives of their families. For more information on the 20 Scholarship Fund, please contact Susan Boiko, Director of Development & Marketing at (650) 330-6521 or sboiko@jobtrainworks.org.

Volunteer at JobTrain!

The Mills-Peninsula Senior Focus Volunteer Services Newsletter (Volume 20, Issue 3) features an article about JobTrain’s volunteer opportunities! You may read the article below:

JobTrain 
By Deborah Owdom 

On a recent site visit to JobTrain in Menlo Park, I had the opportunity to tour the facility and get a close look at the services that they provide. I left there after a 90 minute visit inspired by what they do for the community and the population that they serve.

JobTrain served 8,000 people in 2013, concentrating efforts on populations with the biggest problems: returning parolees, long-term unemployed, homeless, those on public assistance, high school dropouts, marginalized youth and people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction
.
Their successes are remarkable. Eighty-seven percent of those who enrolled in full-time vocational training completed programs and 76% of graduates were placed in careers at an average starting wage of nearly $15 per hour. One year later, 88% were still employed and many had been promoted. Vocational training is only one piece of the JobTrain experience. The holistic approach to long term success provides hundreds of other opportunities for clients to become self-sufficient and responsible.

People choose to volunteer with JobTrain be-cause their time truly makes an impact on their students, the staff and the mission of the organization. Whether it is assisting with a fund raising event, helping staff in the office, or serving as an aide in a classroom, each volunteer becomes a valuable part of the JobTrain Team.

Volunteer Opportunities include: 
Teacher’s Aide, Academic or English as a Second Language Tutoring, Administrative Office support, and Job Development. They also value volunteers who are able to help with special projects such as fundraising events – Annual Golf Tournament and the Breakfast of Champions.

To volunteer at JobTrain, contact Siosiua “C2” Vea, Administrative Services Specialist, at svea@jobtrainworks.org or (650) 330-6567.

Building the Future by Nora Sobolov, Executive Director

It has been my pleasure to meet with many people in JobTrain family over the past six months. Everyone tells me how important it is for our community and our country to find ways to sustain and grow JobTrain’s reach and impact to help bridge the opportunity divide. 

As we consider how to meet this growing need, we have been looking at organizations throughout the Bay Area and across the country that work to help people seeking employment. What we’ve found won’t surprise our long-time supporters. There are unique qualities about JobTrain’s programs and services that contribute to our students’ success. These include the broad scope of our training and supportive services, working with people without a high school diploma and training people currently in jail through San Mateo County’s work furlough program. We truly help those most in need to succeed.

As we begin the countdown to our 50^th Anniversary, we are considering how we can build on JobTrain’s unique services and impact, and find new paths to sustainability by collaborating with potential partners in the US and internationally.

In order to accomplish these goals, we’d like to get your candid opinions on the questions in JobTrain’s “Building the Future” survey. Your input will help guide us in developing our strategic and action plans.  We anticipate this survey will take you 10-15 minutes to complete. All responses will be used for research purposes only and will be kept strictly confidential. 

To take this survey, please click HERE. Please note: The deadline for completing this survey has been extended to Wednesday, April 30, 2014.

Our students and our community are counting on you. If you would like to contact me directly, I’m always happy to hear from you. Thank you very much for your time!