Gesher Human Services in Southfield is offering HarMoney, a six-week interactive virtual program providing financial education offered by Gesher Human Services and made possible by a $50,000 grant from Huntington Bank, beginning Feb. 19.
Since 2021 when the program began, 33 families have had their financial lives transformed, frequently seeing significant improvements in their credit scores, and some having the ability to afford a down payment for purchasing a home.
Southfield resident Tracey Overstreet, 69, enrolled in the Women to Work program at Gesher Human Services last fall, looking for a fresh start after retiring from Chrysler and then holding positions at a glass factory and as a nanny for the past 11 years.
“She inspired me. She gave me that want to go. I didn’t want to miss one class,” Overstreet said of Judy Richmond, who has been the Women to Work coordinator at Gesher Human Services for around 15 years.
The Women to Work program is a free monthlong series that meets twice a week for eight sessions, offered in the winter, spring and fall at Gesher Human Services, 29699 Southfield Road. It has been around since the 1980s, originally as the “Displaced Homemakers” program. Women to Work aims to provide metro Detroit women with the skill set and confidence to secure the right job no matter their circumstances. Whether a life-changing event such as a divorce or death has occurred or a gap in a resume, Women to Work strives to create an encouraging environment and community-like atmosphere in the classroom.
It’s never been a better time to pursue a human services career.
The demand for workers is high and Gesher Human Services will be offering paid, on-the-job training for local residents.
“We have launched the apprenticeship because we are constantly hearing about people who would like to work in direct care but are told they aren’t suitable because they don’t have the needed experience,” Gesher Human Services COO James Willis said, in a news release. “Although being compassionate and caring are important requirements for direct care work, there are many skills that direct care professionals need, and we can now provide that specific training and the opportunity for people to start a new career for themselves.”
The new apprenticeship program provides unemployed and underemployed individuals with on-the-job training and 155 hours related technical instruction for a nationally recognized Journeyperson Direct Support Specialist Credential.
A new program by Gesher Human Services expects to be a game changer by addressing a shortage in the talent pool for direct care workers in West Bloomfield.
The way they are doing that is not looking for a talent pool of workers but creating their own pool of talent by paying people to get trained.
Corey Zeigler had no idea his heartbreak was preparing him for something extraordinary for him, which was becoming his father’s caregiver as he had dementia.
He is a gem, and gems like Zeigler are in high demand. Because he was able to transfer what he learned in caring for his father to becoming a professional direct care worker at Gesher Human Services for developmentally disabled adults and adults with mental health needs in group homes.
The Gesher Direct Support Professional Apprenticeship program will provide unemployed and underemployed individuals with on-the-job training and 155 hours related technical instruction to earn a nationally recognized Journeyperson Direct Support Specialist Credential. Apprentices will be matched with a journeyperson at Gesher who will provide training, support and mentoring to the apprentice. Direct care work at the nonprofit organization could include working in residential homes with people living with mental illness or other disabilities, or providing job support to metro Detroiters living with intellectual and other disabilities who are employed at work sites in the community.
Eugene Jones, manager of vocational services at Gesher Human Services, shares more on the organization’s hiring blitz for direct care workers.
Join host Brooke Allen as she discusses a returning “Women to Work” program with Jason Charnas of Gesher Human Services.
Gesher Human Services, one of the largest human service agencies in metro Detroit, will begin offering paid, on-the-job training for local residents who would like to start a human service career in working with people with disabilities. Gesher was previously called JVS Human Services before it merged with another nonprofit organization called Kadima in 2022.
The Gesher Direct Support Professional Apprenticeship program will provide unemployed and underemployed individuals with on-the-job training and 155 hours related technical instruction to earn a nationally recognized Journeyperson Direct Support Specialist Credential.
More than 300 people attended the event held at the Detroit Marriott, Troy. The money raised will help support many of the programs that Gesher runs to improve the lives of women and their families, including Women to Work, financial education, computer training, resume writing and homebuyers’ assistance.
Women to Work program offers training opportunities for women looking to enter the workforce.