Connecting community to careers, and careers to belonging

 

That was one of the starting points for the Project Activate SouthEast team as they wrestled with how to best support post-secondary opportunities for community members, while also building a sense of belonging in SouthEast Lancaster City.

 

 

This board, created in 2019 with testimonials and stories from the community, helped shape and guide the team’s work as they began to refine their scope and focus on employment as a way of creating both opportunity and belonging.  More than 18 months later, SouthEast Lancaster City now has its newest monthly career fair as part of Project Activate’s SouthEast Worx initiative.

 

 

Among the learnings of the team from the community was the fact that past attempts to create job fairs and opportunities to link careers to community members were inconsistent, and didn’t come back often enough to maintain momentum. To address this in their pilot, SouthEast Worx will be focusing on consistency: kicking off its first event last weekend, the event will feature 20+ employers and happen every third Saturday of the month at Crispus Attucks Community Center. The hope is to be a dependable resource for connecting SouthEast community members with important employment opportunities from local vendors.