The Jewish Family Service of San Diego was awarded more than $19,600 by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Program from the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to create a special training room that will allow the agency’s Employment and Career Services department to provide job preparation and training services. The training room will be a resource for low-income San Diegans and will include new computer equipment, training materials and supplies.
JFS’ Employment and Career Services offers job search training and other related employment skills. Program courses include instruction on succeeding at job interviews, navigating the internet and social media resources, writing resumes and cover letters. These programs, made possible with assistance from JFS staff and dedicated volunteers, previously lacked the space and equipment to allow participants to put these skills into practice.
“Many locals who benefit from JFS’ services lack internet access at home or do not know how to use the internet efficiently,” said JFS Director of Employment and Career Services Janetta Nartey. “This funding will allow us to expand our training from presentational to practical.”
The Neighborhood Reinvestment Program provides grant funds to county departments, public agencies and nonprofits for one-time community, social, environmental, educational, cultural or recreational needs.
The computers purchased through this grant will also be available for use by other JFS programs, offering budget and debt management classes and assistance in accessing online community resources.
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San Diego Habitat for Humanity announced its continued partnership with JPMorgan Chase & Co. with a donation of $100,000 and a major volunteer effort from Chase employees. Twenty-five employees from Chase will volunteer their time to help make the home of a U.S. Navy veteran and his wife healthier and safer. The couple has a large family and has been foster parents, at one point caring for six children.
This is the first of five build-day events that will engage 125 volunteers throughout 2017. The grant also supports the construction of new Habitat homes in Logan Heights, one of which will be sold to a veteran.
In addition to building new homes in partnership with veterans, Habitat helps veterans thrive through its Repair Corps program, designed to create healthier, safer home environments through critical repairs and improvements to homes that are already owned by a veteran. Since the program’s inception in 2012, San Diego Habitat has completed work on 81 Repair Corps homes.
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The Sundt Foundation announced that this past quarter five charities were selected to receive a total of $13,000 in grants. The VIP NeuroRehabilitation Center received $4,000 for its VIP Scholarship Program that will provide 40 hours of free therapy to patients. The center provides outpatient care to disabled military, veterans, children and others in need. The center’s focus is on those who have difficulty moving following stroke, multiple sclerosis, brain injury, ALS, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury and multiple traumas.
The Alpha Project for the Homeless of San Diego received $1,500 to support its mission to provide work, recovery and support services for the homeless. Colette’s Children’s Home, a Huntington Beach-based nonprofit that supports homeless women and children, was awarded $4,000. Feeding San Diego, the county’s leading hunger-relief organization, received a $1,000 grant and Rise Up Industries in La Mesa was awarded $2,500 to support gang prevention, gang intervention and post-detention re-entry.
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Nature & Culture International, a local nonprofit, announced it helped Ecuador establish a 6.3-million-acre conservation corridor in the Amazon rainforest. The Pastaza Ecological Sustainable Use Area is larger than the state of Maryland and considered by scientists to be one of the most biodiverse areas on Earth. Founded in 1997 by San Diego developer Ivan Gayler, Nature and Culture International conserves biological and cultural diversity in some of the world’s most diverse ecosystems, primarily in the Andes and Amazon of South America. During the last 20 years, NCI has helped local governments and communities protect 13 million acres and designate an additional 6.4 million acres as UN Biosphere Reserves, according to its website.
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