Through compassionate, professional job counseling, Jubilee Jobs helps struggling unemployed people find appropriate marketplace jobs and then, with support and accountability, move into career positions -- over 18,000 served since 1981.
Why do we exist?
Authentic human freedom is rooted in sustenance, dignity and hope. Joblessness robs us of these. The District of Columbia has a higher poverty rate than any state in the nation. The unemployment rate in Washington is above the national average, and the income inequality is the highest in the country. The causes of joblessness are vast, and include every social illness imaginable.
The goal of Jubilee Jobs is to help people find their way out of poverty and joblessness by providing compassionate, skilled job preparation and placement for those in greatest need. Our services include structured support once people are working, encouraging them to stay focused on their next steps in the journey toward a living wage. We also host monthly dinners for newly working people, to create community and keep long-term plans alive.
We serve ex-offenders, homeless people, welfare-recipients and people recovering from addiction. The Jubilee Jobs family is a vibrant example of the power of new beginnings. Half the people on the staff were applicants into the program at one point in their lives. After obtaining experience in the workplace, they were asked to return and join the staff of Jubilee Jobs.
What have you accomplished?
In the past 27 years, Jubilee Jobs has helped more than 18,000 DC-area job seekers hear the words, “You’re hired,” and begin the journey toward a living wage. Our services are free to all who are ready to make a new beginning.
Experience verifies our belief that people can move out of joblessness and poverty and build a stronger future through supported access to the job market. Recently a former Jubilee Jobs applicant named Theo spoke at our monthly Job Friends dinner, sharing his success story with the audience of recently-placed applicants. When Theo came to Jubilee Jobs after years of being incarcerated, he was unemployed, in recovery from addiction and living in a transitional home. He said, “I was so low, if I reached up as far as I could, I would have barely touched the bottom.”
Theo was ready to work with his counselor and he was soon placed in an entry-level position with a labor company, working full-time earning $6.15 per hour. He developed a strong bond with his job counselor, who understood the difficulties of starting over. With patience and determination, he put his life back together. After six months, Theo’s counselor helped him find a position with a construction company making $15.00 an hour. Today, Theo is a supervisor for that company. He and his new wife are is in the process of buying their own home. Theo closed his remarks by encouraging the audience to “keep reaching up, and hang in there…because if people see you trying, they will help you out. I guess the word I’m looking for is bounce-back-ness. You gotta bounce back.” We all celebrate his achievement.
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