Agudath Israel of America’s Fresh Start Program Getting downtrodden women back on their feet

Since 1979, hundreds of women, Jews and non-Jews, religious and secular, have completed a free employment-training program through Agudath Israel of America’s doors.

They come in divorced, widowed, separated, poor, demoralized, down trodden and after four weeks of training and some work on their interviewing skills and resumes, a certificate of completion in their hands, they enter the work force.

The 33-year program is Agudath Israel’s Fresh Start Training Program with computer classes and Job Readiness Training for Displaced Homemakers. The program is for divorced, single parents, separated, widowed, or low income married women with children under the age of 19. The four-week computer classes in Microsoft Word, Excel and typing are part of a New York State Department of Labor grant to help find jobs for women who, when they were married, relied on their husband’s income.

When they reach out to the program, said Sigalit Mizrahi, the job developer there, “they feel down, not confident; they feel they have nowhere to go, that they don’t have skills and feel lost. We come as a support system, we help build their self-esteem through group sessions and one on one counseling. It is a process to build a woman up to become independent again, financially, and to rebuild her self-esteem.”

Women who enter the program have to have U.S. citizenship or a green card and have to be eligible to work in New York State. The women receive a certificate when they complete the free program. “They set goals,” explained Mizrahi. “They either go out and find a job or we work with their interviewing skills, correct their resume and once their resume is complete, we send it out to jobs that we think they are a good candidate for or they do their own job search.”

On average, they train and counsel about 120 women a year. “We have helped thousands” since they started, pointed out Mizrahi. The training classes are held five times a year. Earlier in the program they had ten to fifteen women in each class, now, due to cuts in funding, they only have five computers, enabling the training of only five women at a time. Technology has steered the training.

When the program began in 1979, the women learned to type. Later on, the course taught word processing and now computers with Word and Excel. Training takes place about every other month, she said, with one month to screen applicants to fill a class, “to see how motivated and serious they are to go back to work. It takes time to find the right candidate.” The alternate month is for the class. The classes are held during the day depending on when the instructor is available, usually twice a week from 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. for four weeks. The next class in typing skills will probably be held in July or the end of June.

“It’s an overall holistic approach,” explained Mizrahi. “We hand hold these women so they can build up confidence and become independent and support themselves financially by working.”

To enter the program they have to “come in, fill out paperwork and give appropriate documents to prove that they are a displaced homemaker,” she noted. Some of the necessary documents include a divorce decree if they are divorced, documentation that they are on government aid, a birth certificate, passport, green card or social security card, an income statement, food stamps letter, government assistance letter, or a signed statement that they are unemployed. A widow has to show her husbands’ death certificate, court documentation if separated, children’s social security cards to prove that they are under the age of 19.

The program assists the women in interviewing skills, resume writing, and job search and helps them find jobs based on ability, location and hours. The graduates of the program have been employed as secretaries, administrative assistants, in human relations and recruiting, customer service, and retail stores. Some have gone back to school after the course and have become therapists and nurses and some have risen to management positions in their jobs. “We accept everyone,” noted Mizrahi. “There is no discrimination, Jews, non-Jews, all facets of women.”

One divorced woman in her 40s came in 2002 and she was “down on herself,” recounted Mizrahi. She took the computer classes, earned a certificate in Word and Excel, and after help with her resume, found a job as an administrative assistant, worked there for three years, lost the job and returned to Fresh Start to update her resume. She found another job, was “very happy,” remarried, quit her job then got divorced and returned to Fresh Start for emotional counseling and support “to get back on her feet.” She updated her resume and is currently a secretary for an outreach program “This is someone who utilized our services several times and maintained a relationship over ten years,” stressed Mizrahi. “And whenever she needed assistance to update her resume, or to speak to us, she reached out.”

She recalled one woman whose husband was out of work. “She was low income and married and had no idea what she wanted to do,” she said. “She had no work experience and didn’t know what she was capable of doing. She took the classes three years ago and we discussed what interested her. She said she likes people, talking to people, but had no clue, no knowledge. When she graduated, we referred her to agencies for work and now she works for a non-profit company in human resources, recruiting. She finds other people jobs now. We didn’t recognize her. She is confident, well-dressed, and now teaching people how to find jobs. She is successful; it’s really great to see.”

“We come as a support system,” she said. “People still call us after ten to fifteen years to update us on their family. We really are a resource to be by their side.”

Classes are held at 4006 18th Avenue in Boro Park, Brooklyn. For more information call 718 506-0500 x200.