#humansofjvs

“I came to JVS for career counseling almost 10 years ago because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. I had left the corporate workplace 15-20 years before to run a business with my husband. I kept thinking that if I went back into the workforce I would most likely do something similar to what I had done before, but I also knew a lot had changed. We didn’t even have PCs back then; I was working on a mainframe computer!

JVS opened my eyes to other possibilities by helping me identify my transferable skills. I eventually landed a new job. At JVS, of all places. I never dreamed I’d end up here.

The hardest thing about starting my job at JVS was that I had a business background and, at first, I felt like a fish out of water among this group of very talented job counselors. But then I was reminded that everyone else appreciated my business skills. We were a great complement of strengths.

I love everything about my job, but what I like most is knowing that we’re impacting the quality of peoples’ lives. I would tell anybody who’s looking to make a change that it’s never too late, and I’d encourage them to be open to any possibilities. In the corporate world, it was always about the bottom line. Here it’s about the people.”

“I was reading a story to the clients and at the end of the story, was an art project. The project brought back memories and made me think about my grandmother.  As a child, she would come and watch me and my brothers and sisters while my parents were at work. She would bring scraps of material with her, sit quietly and sew together the pieces of fabric. There were six of us and she made all of us our own bedspread. For the art project, we had the clients pick out six pieces of paper and cut up them up.  Next, they glued them together in whatever fashion they decided to put together our own quilt.

“When I was growing up, my dad was self-employed and often worked from home. I used to love listening to him work on the phone. What impressed me most was how engaged and animated he was when he was working.

While I didn’t realize it at the time, watching my dad in action helped form the foundation for my intrinsic belief in the therapeutic value of work. Early in my career, when I first began to work with people with disabilities, our overall goal was to help them feel valued and integrated into their communities. I remembered my dad, and helping them work became the obvious answer. Subsequently, when I came to JVS, I had the opportunity to help people across the community find their success in the world of work.”

“Marcella and I lived a half a block from each other in early childhood so our families’ paths sometimes crossed, like at the local butcher shop and at Brown’s drug store where I worked as a teen scooping ice cream. But I didn’t really get to know Marcella until the summer of 1952. I was taking a trip with some friends to South Haven, and she came with us. That began our summer romance. It ended in the fall when I was leaving for optometry school in Chicago. We were sure our romance could not sustain a 300-mile separation for three years.

We both married other people, but those marriages ended. Marcella and I were reunited after 24 years. It was as if we picked up our relationship where we left off. We married a year later. That was August 7, 1977. Marcella died on May 29, 2012.

When Marcella began to slip cognitively, I saw an article in the Jewish News about the JVS Memory Club. Marcella started with the Memory Club in 2007 and she found it to be very helpful. As her memory slipped further, the staff suggested the [Dorothy and Peter Brown Adult Day Program]. I worked out my schedule so I could pick her up in the afternoon, and she was always animated. It would only last for a short time – but it was enough.

The Brown Program provided a mitzvah (good deed) for me. It was a place for my wife to be safe and have fun.”

An energetic 85-year-old, Dr. Edward Stein still works part-time in a practice he shares with his nephew.  

“I spent 35 years in the same industry. I worked for only three companies and when I went from one to the other, formal interviews didn’t occur.  We already knew each other so it was more of an informal breakfast or lunch.  We’d discuss what success would look like together and we worked out the job details.”  

“Leaving the industry I spent my entire career in was a challenge. I was concerned about my age, that I had not interviewed throughout the years and had not developed a resume in a very long time."

"Then I learned about JVS and all they have to offer. I began working with Chaka, Gerard, and Judy at JVS. They got me into the mindset that interviewing isn’t bragging, it’s sharing your experience.  They also encouraged me to use my age as an advantage, again the sharing of my successful experiences.  They helped me develop a great resume, and kept pushing me to “follow your passion.”  

“Well, wholesale/retail distribution is in my blood and what I have been successful at so I built a strong database of distributors in Michigan and was diligently working them. I came across 1st Source Servall, a company I worked for in high school and where my dad worked for 44 years. I was pleasantly surprised at how much they have grown. I drafted a letter to the third generation owner, who I've known since I worked there, and they had an open opportunity.”

“Everyone at JVS from the onset told me, “80% of people get a job from someone they know.”  At first I had doubted that!”

“We are rhythmic beings, even down to our heartbeats. Rhythm is an ancient way human beings have connected with each other. I get really excited when someone who was quiet and withdrawn starts tapping a foot to the beat of my music. It shows that something inside is coming alive.”

“It's always in the back of your mind when you watch the news seeing people getting laid off, that potentially you could be one of those persons. Working for a big company, those things happen frequently so I knew it was possible, but didn't expect to have it happen to me so quickly. Being out of work is tough. You had a routine and knew what you were doing, where you were supposed to be. And here you are – boom – it’s 8 o’clock in the morning and you have nothing to do.

So here I was, after 30 years of working, without a job. Selling myself in the job market wasn’t a skill that I had honed over the course of time. I never had to look for a job in my entire life, so it was a new set of skills that I had to develop. I think when you’re off work for a period of time, it gets even more difficult. You become isolated, just beating the same drum every day. You drop your resume into a black hole, and nothing happens.”