PYBFF Teaming Up with Community Partners for Employment Workshops This Spring

With unemployment numbers rocketing past eight percent nationally, and even higher
in areas including DC which hit 9.3% in January 2009, it’s becoming harder for certain members of the community who want to enter the workforce to do so. Policy-makers in DC and other jurisdictions are working diligently toward offering job training for adults, but it takes a community working together to help an individual put their best foot forward.

"PYBFF started as a small community project and has continued to grow through the support of our partners,” says Founder Josh Kriger, who is a consultant by day. “In just three years, we’ve helped more than 100 homeless, low-income or underemployed people find success and make their lives better for themselves and their families. This has been an incredibly meaningful, often life changing, experience for those volunteering and workshop attendees.”

In 2009, the initiative plans to hold two one-day workshops – one in Alexandria on May 16th at the Walter Durant Community Center and the other on June 6th in the District at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. Clothing drives and benefit events are underway to defray workshop costs and support the job programs of PYBFF community partners. Community partners identify the workshop participants, and channel their combined resources and ingenuity to make each PYBFF workshop a one-of-a-kind experience.

Community partners already on board for the 2009 initiative, include:
- The Carpenter’s Shelter (founding partner)
- Alexandria Sheriff’s Office
- Alexandria-Arlington Coalition for the
Homeless
- Arlington Street People’s Assistance Network
- Friends of the Guest House
- New Hope Housing
- DC Central Kitchen
- Our Place DC
- Washington Literacy Council.

Organizations interested in becoming a PYBFF community partner or corporate sponsor can find out how to participate online at www.pybff.org or email info@pybff.org for more information.

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD CLOTHING DRIVE BEGINS

From March 16 – May 15, 2009, PYBFF is collecting:

�� Gently worn men’s and women’s suits
�� Gently worn slacks, collar shirts, jackets, skirts, and blouses
�� Accessories such as belts, ties, purses, overcoats and jewelry

If you live in the D.C. area, this is a fantastic way to give back to the community!

Just the Facts
�� All clothing donated will be available to “Put Your Best Foot Forward” Workshop
participants.
�� The goal is to provide each Workshop participant with at least an outfit that can be worn to a
job interview, or on the job.
�� All sizes accepted.
�� Clothes can either be laundered at home and then ironed or dry-cleaned before being
donated.
�� Clothing donations will be tax deductible.

For more information on drop-off opportunities or to initiate a large-scale corporate clothing drive, contact Jessica Achtman, 248.790.5377, or achtmanj@gmail.com

Adult Job Training is Becoming a Necessity

A community partner recently forwarded this blog article to me which substantiates the need for more adult job training in D.C. I'm glad PYBFF is able to support this objective.

Wash Post blog on Job Training for DC ResidentsAct

Posted at 7:00 AM ET, 03/ 4/2009 by Darryl Fears
Brown to Fenty: 'Get D.C. Residents Job Training Now'
At-Large Councilmember Kwame Brown (D) didn't mince words when naming a bill he submitted in yesterday's D.C. Council legislative session. It's called the "Get D.C. Residents Training for Jobs Now Act."

The act would compel Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to create a job training program for adults by opening certain schools at night and on the weekends. At least eight of Brown's colleagues supported the bill, now in the committee on housing workforce development.
Currently D.C. provides job training to high school students but not adults. In a statement, Brown's office said the legislation requires that job-training programs be made available for adults at three District-owned facilities currently offering career technical training programs for high school students -- the Academy of Construction and Design at Cardozo Senior High School, the Hospitality High School at Roosevelt, and Phelps Architecture, Construction and Engineering High School.

As the city's unemployment rate soars above 8 percent, Brown, chair of the economic development committee, said he's been besieged by residents at appearances and family outings asking what he can do to get them jobs.

In the financial crisis, there's not much work to be had. For many D.C. residents, the chance of finding work is even harder because they're poorly trained for what's available: hospitality work, small construction jobs such as weatherstripping and carpentry, the list goes on.
There are more than 700,000 jobs being worked in the city, according to the D.C. Chamber of Commerce, and 450,000 of them are filled by people who live outside the District. Federal law forbids the city from taxing non-residents, so the District loses about $200 million a year in potential revenue.

Training, Brown said, could offset the loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide, and the District should be at the forefront. "Despite the reports, I believe our nation and the District can rebuild," he said. "I believe that there are opportunities for growth right at our doorstep."

Announcing our Upcoming Spring Events

The PYBFF Team is excited to announce our current line up of benefit events and workshops this spring:

Benefit Happy Hour for Alexandria Workshop

Thursday, April 2, 2009
6:00-9:00 p.m.
Champps in Pentagon Row
1100 S Hayes St, Arlington, VA

Alexandria Put Your Best Foot Forward Workshop 


Saturday, May 16, 2009
9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Walter Durant Community Center, 1605 Cameron St, Alexandria, VA

Washington D.C. Put Your Best Foot Forward Workshop

Saturday, June 9, 2009
9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Location TBD