Parish job clubs offer unemployed workers job counseling, networking

Published: 2004-09-23

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (CNS) -- Rob DiCarlo remembers a Sunday Mass at Irondequoit's St. Margaret Mary Parish more than a year ago during which his pastor, Father Timothy Horan, talked about the need to help unemployed parishioners. Afterward, DiCarlo, who is assistant director of the Office of Career Services at State University of New York College at Brockport, began looking for a way to use his expertise to help his fellow parishioners. He later approached Father Horan with the idea of starting St. Margaret Mary Job Club, a place where the unemployed could go to talk to others in their situation and gain skills to help them secure employment. The club began with weekly meetings during which participants could have their resumes critiqued or engage in informal discussions about the issues they were facing, such as financial planning and the loss of health insurance. By the spring of 2004, many of the original participants had found employment, so the club's format changed. In May it hosted a series of career workshops covering such topics as resume writing, interviewing skills and job-search strategies.

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