Innovation in Volunteering Programming: The Networking Workshop

Networking is the process of building mutually beneficial relationships that provide knowledge, advice, information and further contacts, all of which help focus and advance career goals. Recently, networking has proven to be more valuable than ever. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics recently found that 70 percent of jobs are secured through networking. Especially since the economic downturn, finding jobs has become increasingly difficult. A Fiscal Policy Institute Report states that “Among unemployed New Yorkers, half have been without a job for more than six months, and 29 percent have been jobless for more than a year.” The recent increase in unemployment has naturally led to a rise in competition among individuals. Networking provides an edge: it allows individuals to be more than just words on their resumes. But like cooking, driving, or any other skill, networking requires proper guidance and practice.

Recognizing the significance of job readiness, Met Council provides professional help to low to moderate-income New Yorkers who want to find jobs or advance their careers. These resources are available for clients who come from various backgrounds and economic situations including unemployment, underemployment, or career change. Met Council’s innovative Career Services Center has volunteers who help people build the necessary foundation for job searches, as well as provides the extra advantage to help its clients secure employment. After teaching computer skills, providing resume assistance, and leading a mock interview workshop, these skilled volunteers conduct a Professional Networking Workshop. This training and hands-on approach provides job seekers with skills on how to network and get information on potential employers. By play-acting in a networking mixer, clients have the opportunity to present their professional selves in a non-threatening environment. This interactive technique is particularly useful in teaching clients how to connect with possible future employers. As part of the training, for example, clients learn to create a two-minute pitch and a 30-second pitch― or, “the elevator pitch”― to clearly articulate who they are and what their goals are. Clients are also taught how to connect with their interviewers on a deeper level, and how to follow-up after the interview.

These valuable skills are not innate, which is why this program is so helpful to clients. But each client’s experience at Met Council’s networking workshop would be incomplete without a chance to receive feedback on his or her performance. After learning networking tips and then implementing these tips in a simulated environment, these clients are then offered thoughtful suggestions on how to improve their already-enhanced skills. These feedback sessions pave the way for clients to reach their ultimate potential, as it gives them an opportunity to grow. In the process, many valuable ideas are generated and then shared within a group setting, allowing each client to learn from his or her peers. By addressing each client’s personal needs, the volunteers are able to tailor the most successful networking approach, unique to each client. Met Council recognizes that no two clients have an identical resumes, so they should not be subjected to identical training. Instead, each client receives individualized guidance and one-on-one attention.

If you are interested in volunteering for our networking workshop please e-mail Volunteer@metcouncil.org

Some information was taken from: http://www.fiscalpolicy.org/FPI_StateOfWorkingNewYork2011_Part1_20110831.pdf

Written By Carly Scheinberg, Met Council Intern

Pack It Up For Purim!

As Jewish New Yorkers prepare to celebrate Purim, UJA-Federation is teaming up with AmeriCorps and the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty to help defeat hunger in our community. Join us for Pack It Up for Purim, a community-wide effort to create 2,000 food packages for needy New Yorkers, and become part of the Purim tradition of mishloach manot, offering a food package to a neighbor.

Want to learn more about this holiday and our Pack It Up for Purim program?

Watch the video below!

Pack it up for Purim from UJA-Federation of New York on Vimeo.

* Volunteers — Make a nutritious nonperishable food package. Visit our volunteer section for drop-off centers and helpful tools.

* Community Agencies — Visit our agency section to register to recruit volunteers and serve as a drop-off center.

* Talk to us on Facebook and Twitter (@ujafedny), with hashtag #pack4purim

* Read about our Pack It Up for Purim initiative.

* Donate now — Your generosity will provide a safety net for the impoverished in New York and around the world.

Volunteer with Children

It's a New Year: why not make your 2012 resolution to be more active and make a difference? And we can't think of a better way to impact our future than to help a child learn and grow! These two exciting programs give volunteers meaningful and rewarding experiences with at-risk children. Help change a child's life by becoming a mentor or a tutor today.

Volunteer Mentors Needed

Jamaica, Queens

Sundays, 12:30PM-3:00PM

YEP is an educational program that aims to engage and instruct homeless children through mentorship activities. Volunteer duties include setting up the room, facilitating that day’s activity, working one-on-one with children, and establishing meaningful and lasting relationships with mentees. For more information, please contact Kelley Baldwin at 212-453-9675 or kbaldwin@metcouncil.org.

Volunteer Tutors Needed

Borough Park, Brooklyn

Tuesdays and Wednesday, 6PM-7:30PM

**Female volunteers only**

Homework Helpers seeks to improve the academic performance of children, grades four to eight, who come from single parent households affected by domestic violence. Volunteers are paired one on one with clients to help teach and explain homework assignments and subjects. For more information, please contact Irijah Stennett at istennett@metcouncil.org.

Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Month!

To start off the New Year we’d like to acknowledge May Lai as our Volunteer of the Month! May has been an integral part of our Senior Fitness Program in Brooklyn and her dedication and enthusiasm have brought so much to the program.

May has been living in New York City for three decades, having previously attended high school in Hong Kong and lived in the Dominican Republic. It was her good friend that sent her the link about Met Council’s volunteer opportunities. For almost a year now, she has be the volunteer leader for the Senior Fitness Class at the Carlton Residences in Fort Green. Every Monday morning, for one hour, Mai leads a fitness class for low-income seniors living in this Met Council housing site.

For seniors, staying active is linked directly to staying healthy. May volunteers because she believes that many community projects need the extra help. The most rewarding part, May states, is “self fulfillment and meeting new people. I feel great helping the community!”

We are happy to have her energy and enthusiasm being used in this capacity to keep our seniors active, healthy and most importantly engaged in regular exercise that they enjoy. May, we thank you for your time, patience and commitment to the community as well as its seniors. We are extremely grateful for your dedication!

Game on, Day on! - Martin Luther King Junior Day of Service

Martin Luther King Junior Day: “A day on, not a day off.” And what a day on it was! Yesterday, for Met Council’s MLK Day of Service, almost two hundred volunteers distributed twenty thousand brochures across New York City in order to raise awareness about the food benefit programs available to New Yorkers in need and to debunk some of the common misconceptions and stigmas related to them.

Volunteers gathered together at 80 Maiden Lane in the morning to learn about the details on SNAP food benefits and poverty that they would need to communicate to business owners and people on the street as they distributed materials. They learned about the most common misconceptions about the food program. Many people, for example, think that they are not eligible if they own a car, or are immigrants. Upon reflection after the event, one volunteer remarked that he was surprised at all of the assumptions that people made around the program and glad that he was able to become more informed so that he could talk to them and clear up confusion.

After the learning portion, volunteers then went out to all parts of the city and distributed the information. The information distributed had immediate impact. People on the streets as well as business owners quickly began to view the materials and ask questions to volunteers about the program. And guess what? Less than 24 hours later, we are already receiving dozens of phone calls from people around New York City who saw the flyers and wanted to apply! Good job, volunteers!

Do you want to see our volunteers in action? Click here for pictures of the day’s events.

What did YOU do on MLK Day?

“Over 200 Met Council Volunteers Set for MLK Day!”

On January 16th, 2012, over 200 volunteers will join together to honor the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of service. This year, Met Council has partnered with the Hunger Free Communities Consortium to distribute materials that encourage struggling New Yorkers to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other entitlement benefits.

"Last year, we coordinated a similar outreach campaign and it was a huge success. according to SSUSA's analysis from July 2010 to Jan 2011, there was a 55% increase in the number of clients coming to Single Stop sites because of outreach flyers."

This service learning project will be targeting underserved neighborhoods throughout NYC – Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. Our dedicated volunteers will be engaging in conversations and distributing information at local libraries, grocery stores, community centers and churches. A half-hour training session about public benefits and food access will be provided to the volunteers before the event.

Together, we will learn how increased access to public benefits such as Food Stamps can be a powerful tool to combating hunger and poverty in New York City. This is a hands-on learning service project that will have volunteers go out directly into the community and make an immediate impact. They have committed to making it a day on- not a day off!

In the afternoon, we are looking forward to reflecting with volunteers and celebrating the success of our day of service at 80 Maiden Lane!

As the late Dr. King once said-

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?”

As a tribute to his legacy, we will try to make sure that less people experience hunger in New York City this year.

We want to acknowledge all of our volunteers who chose to give back on this day!

The Jewish Week

Check out Stefanie Greenber's (Volunteer Department Manger at Met Council) and Susan Kohn's (Executive Director of UJA-Federation of New York’ Volunteer & Leadership Development Division) opinion piece in the the Jewish Week.

http://www.thejewishweek.com/editorial_opinion/opinion/making_mlk_day_day_service

If this inspires you and you would like to volunteer on MLK Day please e-mail volunteer@metcouncil.org. We would love to have you.

Senior Lunch- Holiday Extravaganza!

For more than a year, Met Council’s volunteer-led Senior Lunch Program has been serving up a hot kosher meal every Sunday to residents at our housing site in Manhattan. Sunday, December 25^th was no exception. Our volunteers learned that giving on Christmas doesn’t have to cost money.

Over 20 volunteers participated in our Holiday Extravaganza by decorating the community room with festive balloons and streamers, cutting out paper snowflakes, and hosting rounds of Bingo. Clients enjoyed lunch with plenty of company and warm conversations led in English, Spanish, and Cantonese!

Although Met Council is a Jewish organization, we serve all New Yorkers in need- regardless of race, ethnicity, or background. The success of this ongoing program relies on the generosity of our volunteers who have devoted their time, even their holidays, to take action against hunger and poverty in NYC. We hope to continue to get such a diverse turnout of volunteers and clients going forward into 2012!

Thank you and happy new year!