H EADLINES
JEVS Expands Off erings Via Project EM Initiative
L OCA L
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
JEVS HUMAN SERVICES,
Philadelphia is expanding
its programming due to its
partnership with Project EM:
Empowering and Employing
Our Community, a consortium
of 19 members of the Network
of Jewish Human Service
Agencies. Th e Project EM initiative
off ers a large slate of workshops
— sometimes up to 10 off er-
ings per day — as well as
personalized support for those
recently unemployed or who
are looking to switch careers.

Workshops include
“Mindful Career Strategies,”
“How to Get Your Resume
and Cover Letter Noticed”
and “Using Age to Your
Advantage.” Th e partnership announced
Jan. 31 comes at nearly the
two-year mark of the onset of
the pandemic, which caused
unemployment numbers to
spike across the country.

“Th e ups and downs of the
pandemic have thrown a curve
ball into this jobs market,”
said John Colborn, JEVS chief
operating offi cer and vice-chair
of the NJHSA board of direc-
tors, in a press release. “Many
workers remain on the sideline,
fi nd themselves severely under-
employed, work multiple jobs,
or lack access to benefi ts.

Others, who have upskilled
during the pandemic, need help
breaking into new fi elds.”
In Philadelphia, in the
weeks following the fi rst wave
of COVID restrictions, Jewish
nonprofi ts were forced to lay
off employees, said Peggy
Truitt, program director of
JEVS Career Strategies and
Helping Hands. Many of those
nonprofi ts turned to JEVS to
give support to recently laid-off
workers. “Th at was a population that
we were very familiar with,
that we could provide services
JEWISHEXPONENT.COM Peggy Truitt, program director of JEVS Career Strategies and Helping
Hands Courtesy of Peggy Truitt
A Project EM web banner
to,” Truitt said.

Th roughout the pandemic,
JEVS, with its Career Strategies
and Helping Hands programs,
was able to continue to provide
one-on-one support to those
unemployed or looking to
switch careers and guidance
on using social media to fi nd a
job, craft ing eff ective resumes
and interviewing well.

“We also lent a lot of
emotional and motivational
support, building confi dence
for people who have been
unemployed for a while and
need to get back into the job
force,” Truitt said.

Project EM allows JEVS to
further its impact by providing
additional services, such as
workshops and more person-
alized support and consulting.

“We are able to refer our
clients to resources that we do
not necessarily have an exper-
tise in,” Truitt said. “We’re
only able to do so many public
workshops due to the size of
our staff and other things that
we’re committed to.”
For example, if a veteran
Courtesy of Project EM
came to JEVS needing assis-
tance, the agency could refer
the individual to another
member of the network or a
specific workshop through
Project EM that wouldn’t
otherwise be available through
the Philadelphia agency.

Not only will the partner-
ship give more resources to
Philadelphians looking for
job resources, but it can reach
individuals not living in
metropolitan areas with robust
Jewish Federations and human
services. Project EM partners include
Career Connections of Palm
Beach County, Jewish Family
and Career Services Atlanta
and JVS SoCal, Los Angeles.

Th e programming through
Project EM is free of charge,
which Truitt hopes will be
instrumental in expanding the
reach of its resources.

“People come to us and, a lot
of times, they just don’t know
where to begin, how to start,
how to get the help,” Truitt
said. “So it just really just gives
us a lot more opportunities to
JEWISH EXPONENT
help our clients, and of course,
the more that we can help
them, the more they can be
successful in terms of reaching
their goals, whether it’s fi nding
a job, bettering their employ-
ment or learning something
new to make them more
employable.” To sign-up for personalized
support or workshops through
Project EM, visit jewishto-
gether.org/project-em. ●
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
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