CWE COVID Response Program SpotlightJobs to Build On

The Jobs to Build On network rose to the challenge of COVID-19 in their communities

Last month, we released The Consortium for Worker Education Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic, a compendium that brings together the work of CWE and our partners during the pandemic, which you can read in full on our website. Over the next few months, we will highlight the work that New York City’s unions and community organizations undertook to support city workers through the health crisis, the corresponding recession, and the grief and sense of dislocation that the pandemic left behind. Please read on as we acknowledge the neighborhood organizations that make up CWE’s Jobs to Build On network and their work to support their communities through the crisis.

CWE’s Jobs to Build On program was created by the New York City Council to support workers in city neighborhoods facing high levels of unemployment, so they can get trained in a profession that interests them and be placed into a job that can be a career. CWE has built a network of community organizations as big as New York City to implement the program in every community. When COVID-19 came to New York, the Jobs to Build On network quickly got to work. 

Jobs to Build On community partners were in constant contact with their participants during the COVID-19 health crisis — whether through employment-related services like online job counseling and program information sessions, holistic workshops for physical and mental health, or remote assistance for people in need of social services like financial counseling, meals, or relief funds.

Henry Street Settlement launched a community-wide response on the Lower East Side in the early months of the pandemic, which included providing three meals a day to hundreds of residents; utilizing their clinic to provide essential mental health and nursing services to hundreds of patients at shelters and senior centers; and providing direct financial support to undocumented immigrants, unemployed artists, and other dislocated workers dialing in to the Henry Street Helpline.

Urban Upbound responded to the imminent threat of hunger in Northwest Queens and organized a food distribution network serving some of the largest housing projects in the city. Working with tenants association presidents at the Queensbridge, Ravenswood, Astoria and Woodside Houses, Urban Upbound raised funds and enlisted large and small food enterprises in Queens to contribute to the effort. As a result, they were able to distribute boxes of food on a weekly basis to thousands of apartments, and prepare special hot meals for hundreds of seniors and small children in each apartment complex.

Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow counselors called students and helped them deal with mental health issues, with interpersonal disputes arising when family members sheltered together, and with the fear and anxiety that grew out of the COVID-19 epidemic. 

Jobs to Build On partners also continued to provide workforce development services to New York’s City’s communities. As the COVID pandemic quickly led to the COVID recession, partners pivoted their job training programs and placement services to virtual platforms. Additionally, CWE staff hosted virtual weekly meetings with the partners to provide continued support and technical assistance. Despite the massive disruption of the pandemic, Jobs to Build On and its network of community partners met or exceeded all job training and placement goals for the year.  

Many of Brooklyn Workforce Initiatives’ graduates work in essential jobs such as bus drivers and NYCHA maintenance workers. Using Zoom and Google Classrooms, BWI ramped up new training cycles for its CDL program. BWI was able to do as much training via remote learning as possible, while safely continuing necessary hands-on training. Meanwhile, BWI placed dozens of graduates in jobs in the initial months of the pandemic. 

In Central Brooklyn, CAMBA was able to utilize its proprietary distance learning tools to continue its job readiness program and conduct mock interviews for job seekers. CAMBA succeeded in placing community residents in essential jobs in industries including health care, security at homeless shelters, and wholesale grocery distribution.

Non-Traditional Employment for Women kept all of their current students engaged in didactic instruction utilizing Zoom. As a result, they needed only one week of shop work in order to graduate once they returned to class.

Per Scholas moved eleven classes and over 200 students to remote learning. Recognizing that many participants lacked the technology to make this transition, Per Scholas was able to secure loaner technology for them, leading to a 90% retention rate throughout their program.

SoBro used Google Classroom to engage in job readiness preparation, helping students to prepare their resumes, conduct job search, and even participate in mock on-line job interviews with real prospective employers.

These are just some of the many stories of CWE partners supporting their communities, from letters they sent CWE during the pandemic. You can read all of their letters collected in The Consortium for Worker Education Responds to the COVID-19 Pandemic, on our website.