We are continuing to equip our community with Employment Training and Recruitment, Life Skills for the whole family, and the Real World program for young adults.

A new Life Skills class will start September 14. We will host an interest meeting on Zoom August 31.

The Life Skills class can transform lives. A one-year program for employed adults and their children, Life Skills offers:

• Budgeting 

• Goal Setting  

• Relationship Development 

• Financial Incentives  

• Mentoring and resource referrals 

• Workshops and individual support for adults and their children  

Register at www.stepupministry.org/get-help or call 919-781-0156 

Employment Readiness Training (group classes or one-on-one instruction) is for adults 18-60 and offers:

• Resume support

• Interview Practice 

• Support in overcoming barriers to employment  

• Referrals to StepUp’s network of employers and opportunities  

• Average starting hourly wage $13+ an hour 

Register at www.stepupministry.org/get-help or call 919-781-0156.

Group Life Skills group programs will continue to be offered virtually through the end of 2021.

“It is our goal to safely resume in-person programming,” says Linda Nunnallee, Executive Director. “It was a difficult decision to continue virtual programs for another quarter, but we carefully considered the health of every participant, volunteer and our staff. We look forward to exiting this pandemic together and resuming our group programs as soon as it is safe to gather.”

“We are incredibly grateful for the continued support of our donors as we provide Employment and Life Skills training for the entire family,” Nunnallee adds.  

If you have questions about Employment Readiness Training or Step2/Life Skills, please contact Angela Coleman. If you have questions about Children’s Life Skills or Real World Young Adults programs, please contact Colisha C. Stanford.  

Visit our Calendar to see all upcoming events or our Volunteer Page for opportunities to get involved as we transition back to in-person group programs. 

Kaliah connected with StepUp in March 2021, as she was facing challenges to finding employment due to a history of justice involvement. She had reached a speed bump on her journey called life and needed support. Since then, she has worked diligently to change the narrative her past wrote for her and has used the “sandwich approach” from the Employment Training Workshop to share her story with potential employers.  

Through employment training, she sharpened her resume and interview skills and accessed community resources that have benefitted her family. Just a month after completing employment training, Kaliah landed a job with MVP staffing.  She loves her work schedule, which allows her to be flexible with the schedules of her three children (9, 8, and 4). Kaliah and her children hope to join Step2 Life Skills next. Since Kaliah reached out for support from StepUp, she feels like she can win her race. 

If progression via access and utilization of resources is what success looks like, participant Corinne Scott embodies it. Corinne completed the three day virtual Employment Training Workshop on May 15th while she was relocating to Raleigh. Less than two weeks later, she landed an interview through a StepUp referral and secured a temporary job in her desired field. Recently, the job extended her employment because of her great work ethic and she found her own living space to call home! Corinne attributes a portion of her success to what she learned in the StepUp workshop. Keep stepping up, Corinne!

StepUp continues to evolve and find ways to serve our participants. In addition to offering our weekly Life Skills program virtually, we held our first remote Employment Training workshop via the ZOOM platform Wednesday, May 13 - Friday, May 15. 75% of the individuals who enrolled completed the three-day workshop and have been assigned Case Managers to further assist with employment development and placement. Two additional workshops will be held on June 10 - 12 and June 24 - 26. We are proud to offer this resource to the community.

Job seekers can register by visiting www.stepupministry.org/get-help.

Corina Wyche is a single mother of two small girls who decided that it was time for a change. She took the first step by entering the doors of StepUp Ministry, enrolling in the Employment Workshop program in April of 2019. Upon completion of the workshop, Corina utilized the skills that she learned and gained employment as a Front Desk Clerk at a local hotel. Obtaining full-time employment enabled Corina to continue with her goal of completing the entire StepUp process. Corina entered Step 2 in January of 2020. She remains determined as she navigates through online virtual Life Skills classes, homeschooling a 7-year old daughter, creating activities to keep a 2-year old entertained as well as maintaining her employment.

Corina still has goals and aspirations to achieve. Join us in congratulating her on her past and future achievements.

The start of the year for the Employment and Life Skills team has been explosive! Right out of the gate, the team was able to hold a very successful ENER-G, hosting 18 participants, and two employers. Through this bi-weekly event, we were able to refer seven individuals for interviews at Wake Enterprises. Out of the seven participants referred, four were offered an opportunity for work. We thank Wake Enterprises for their continued support of our program, and look forward to the opportunity to connect with other great employers in 2020!

Give someone a fresh start by hiring through StepUp Ministry! Learn more about our referral process, our participants, and our employers by clicking the link below. Contact our Employment Recruiter, Toney Jefferys, to partner with StepUp Ministry today!

Willie Patterson, a seasoned maintenance worker, came to our Employment Workshop a little doubtful that we could help "somebody like him". Tired of climbing up and down ladders doing odd end jobs, he decided to try the Employment Training Workshop. He says he learned, "StepUp really cares about fitting the right person with the right job." As a result, Willie found stability by working as a custodian at White Memorial Presbyterian Church, where he gets to use all of the skills he has acquired over the years. He finds joy in working with great people, too!

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Johanna Catedral-Arias is a native of Puerto Rico. When she came to StepUp Ministry she was seeking an opportunity to improve her life by making necessary changes that would positively impact her family. She is a mother to three wonderful boys, Ramsesses, Hector, and Zahid.

Johanna began her journey with StepUp Ministry on November 13, 2017, when she completed the Employment Workshop. As a result, she gained full-time employment with the Hyatt House at North Hills. Johanna then entered the Life Skills program, eager to learn more. While active in Life Skills, our staff was able to assist her in gaining joint custody of her children. On August 27, 2019, Johanna began her new career with Alliance Medical Ministry as a full-time receptionist.

Johanna has made great strides by securing her very own two-bedroom apartment as well as furniture from The Green Chair Project. She was also able to purchase a laptop computer through the Kramden Institute. We would like to thank all of our community partners that helped Johanna StepUp!

If you see Johanna, please join me in congratulating her for all of her accomplishments.

The Employment team is excited to recognize Mitch Coles, who completed our weeklong employment workshop back in February. Mitch came to the program with exceptional skills and experience in the IT industry, but was having a hard time connecting with the right opportunities.

After completion of the employment week, Mitch stayed connected with the Jobs team. He attended other StepUp workshops to hone his skills and utilized the StepUp program to extend his network. Most importantly, he continued to build confidence in the skills he possessed. He never stopped engaging and pushing forward with his career goals. This persistent drive landed Mitch a life-changing opportunity with Cisco Systems as a desktop publisher. 

These are encouraging words directly from Mitch:

“I do thank the StepUp Ministry for helping me with my confidence, sharpening my skills and even understanding and learning about individuals with criminal backgrounds. I don’t have one but I KNEW that information was greater than myself. I was able to share some of those things that I’ve learned in that class with others who do have one. Overall, my resume was revamped because of you guys, my confidence and my ability to have more range to look for different things. So again, thank you. Thank you all at StepUp Ministry.”

Coming through the doors on Monday, StepUp Employment Workshop participant Brittany Lewis felt hopeful. By Friday, after 32 hours spent learning about networking, resume writing, dressing for success and preparing for the interview, Brittany feels accomplished. With two interviews already lined up with a pharmaceutical company and doctor’s office, Brittany is ready to spring forward into a new opportunity.

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StepUp Ministry’s Employment Program works with individuals to enhance their previously gained skills and introduce new concepts which improve their overall employability. Bi-weekly, we host a gathering geared toward networking, that we call ENER-G.

Employers also come to introduce potential employees to their company and discuss openings they are seeking to fill. Representatives give a brief overview of their organization, answer additional questions, and qualify potential candidates, as well. We are looking to add more businesses to our “partnership portfolio” that want to hire eager and capable employees. 

Are you looking for qualified candidates to fill a position you have? Know an employer who may be interested? To learn more about joining us for ENER-G, please contact the Employment Team Lead, Dennis A. Jarmon, at djarmon@stepupministry.org.

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The new year has brought an amazing start for the employment team. Along with adding a few great new employers to the roster, our Bi-weekly ENER-G program provided a space for over 10 participants to have face to face interviews with the employers’ present. One of the highlights from the start of this year comes from the most recent employment week, were 9 amazing individuals graduated. The class from last week was filled with individuals from all different walks of life, but had one common goal of finding employment opportunities. 

As the class made their journey through the week, they discovered much more than an opportunity for a job; they discovered hope. This hope was reflected on the last day of class, when the participants decided to stand up and speak about how their lives were changed in just one week. The employment team pushes forward to ensure that every class that follows, receives this same hope. Hope to move forward, and achieve every goal each participant sets for themselves. 

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The holiday season is the most wonderful time of the year to discover new opportunities.

StepUp’s Employment Team brings job opportunities to its participants through almost 200 employer partnerships within the community. We want to take the guess work out of job seeking by not only providing career development soft skills, interviewing techniques, resume writing, and workplace etiquette, but also providing available job leads too.

When participants attend our ENER-G Workshop they get introduced to employers like Headway Hospitality looking to hire from us. We love watching as participants discover new opportunities.

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Community partnerships help StepUp to broaden our base and serve persons in additional outlets.  The Employment program has “spread our wings” over the course of the past year and held workshop weeks at the Salvation Army, the Wake County Human Services complex, in Wake Forest, and at Dorcas Ministries in Cary, NC.  We are excited to increase the footprint of the program and look to explore additional resource partnerships and locations as we enter the new calendar year.  Contact the Employment Team Lead, Dennis A. Jarmon, for more information about how your organization/you can help!

This photo is from the StepUp Employment Week Workshop held at Dorcas Ministries in November.

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“Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

-Michael Jordan

Making it happen is exactly what John Converse, a participant in the jobs program did, when it came to his opportunity for employment. John came through the program this summer, searching for an opportunity to grow both personally, and professionally. Once completing the employment week, he faced a few challenges with getting employed, but did not let those issues stop him.

About a month ago, John decided to join our culinary training program, developed through our partnership with N.C. State University. John stayed committed to the four-week training, and upon completing his training was offered a position in the university dining hall.

Most individuals would not have seen the big picture of giving four weeks of your time in order to get to an opportunity, but John did. He saw the opportunity, wanted the opportunity, and he made it happen.

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Employment is much more than a job at StepUp. It’s the smile on our participant’s face and the joy of knowing that we are working towards success together. Not too long ago I myself walked through StepUp’s doors seeking employment. But what I found was so much more. I found a community of support and encouragement; additional tools and resources that helped push me further into my destiny.  I not only found a job but am fulfilling my passion. As an Employment Counselor, it brings me joy to help others achieve success. Now that’s worth smiling for!

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At StepUp's ENER-G workshops, held every other Wednesday at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, the Community Circle is formed. This is impactful because it forms a continuous ring of support that StepUp offers, symbolically and in practice, for our participants.

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Individuals enter the circle where they answer a prompted question and are also given an opportunity to relate to, and with, each other and their Employment Counselors. Additionally, resources and shared and employers are scheduled to meet job-seekers and share opportunities with them. 

It does, proverbially speaking, take a village, and StepUp is that village for our participants. May the circle be unbroken!

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Jacquetta started with StepUp in July of 2017 as a participant in the Employment Program. Jacquetta was referred to us by Myra Bradley of Catholic Charities. After working hard to complete the Employment Training Workshop, Jacquetta was offered a temporary position with the NCDMV and she accepted.

She continues to work as an employee with NCDMV. In March of 2018 Jacquetta started the Life Skills Program, with aspirations of learning more about handling her finances and about herself. She is currently in Phase Two of the Life Skills program and is doing a fantastic job! When you see Ms. Boone around StepUp, say hello and encourage her as she continues to reach her goals.

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Most individuals come to StepUp seeking employment, directly or indirectly.  In the case of Cheryl Crump, it was to get a refresher on some employability skills to seek an upgrade in employment from her weekend clerical position.  It came in handy because, shortly after completing her workshop, she found herself phased out of her job.  She worked with her Employment Counselor to further enhance her resume and job seeking strategy that enabled her to land a contract position with the NC Department of Revenue (which she currently holds).  She is happy about the opportunity and is making the most of it while developing new transferable skills, to boot.  We are so very glad to have assisted Cheryl with her ability to StepUp!

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At StepUp Ministry, our vision is to be the premier resource in Wake County for people seeking to improve their lives and develop stable careers. Members of our staff were able to meet with current high school sophomores and juniors seeking to do exactly that at Xtreme Beginnings.

One of the many attributes that makes StepUp a premier resource is our dedication to helping people of all ages improve their lives and develop stable careers. Gainful employment changes the lives of not only the individual and their family. It changes entire communities.

On March 27, members of the Employment, Children and Real World Programs of StepUp Ministry, partnered with Wake County Public School Systems to conduct mock interviews for sophomore and high school students. The 18th Annual Xtreme Beginnings Event grants students the opportunity to gain a better understanding of their career options as they continue the career exploration process.

It was an honor to sit in a room full of the students of today and leaders of tomorrow. The event was a wonderful opportunity to open the eyes and minds of the next generation’s workforce to an array of educational and career opportunities.

We look forward to returning next year and to our continued partnership with WCPSS to encourage and support our students.

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