First Step Director Rich Lombino Moving to New Position at Coalition for the Homeless

I'm writing to let you know that I have accepted another position at Coalition for the Homeless (where I've been working for nearly 6 years), and will be leaving the First Step Program. My supervisor Tim Campbell, Director of Programs at Coalition, is in the process of seeking a new Director of First Step, and will try to make that transition as smooth as possible.

The program I will be working in is the Rental Assistance Program (RAP). RAP assists homeless single adults and families to move out of the homeless shelter and into affordable housing, and provides monthly grants for up to 2 years to supplement their income in order to pay rent. As I'm sure you know, finding affordable apartments in New York City has become extremely difficult. You can read more about RAP here. My start date is January 19th, and my new contact information is below.

This past Fall I began pursuing a Masters degree in Social Work (MSW) at Columbia University. My focus is clinical, and the new position in RAP will provide me with the client contact I need. Beginning in September as part the requirements of the MSW program, I will have my field placement (internship) at Coalition and will be providing one-on-one and group counseling/therapy to Coalition clients. If you're interested, you can find more general information about my MSW program here.

I also wanted to let you know that on January 21st, I will be a speaker at a national conference on homelessness in Philadelphia. If you're interested, you can view information about the event here.

As you can imagine, I'm very excited about all these opportunities, and am also sad to be leaving First Step. It's been a wonderful two and a half years being the Director of First Step, and it's nice to know I'll just be down the hall and still available to help out in any way I can.

All the best,

Rich Lombino, Esq.

Celebrating the Global Day of Giving at Draftfcb

We had a wonderful time today at Draftfcb's Global Day of Giving - a world-wide event to celebrate the nonprofit organizations that the company works with, and to encourage its employees to give back and volunteer. Draftfcb has been such a vital partner to First Step for so many years, providing jobs, funding, internships, corporate days, volunteers, books, clothing and so much more. They are currently working pro bono to update our marketing materials and have created a fresh new logo for First Step, to be unveiled soon. Thank you Laurence, Teresa, Steve, June, Pat, Marisol, Elis and all our friends at Draftfcb. All that you do is making a significant impact in the lives of our First Steppers.

Corporate Day Hosted by Credit Suisse

On Tuesday, October 27th, Credit Suisse hosted a corporate day at their offices for First Step's Class 96. Dozens of Credit Suisse staff participated in the event, which included a Q & A and presentation, a tour of their trading floor, and round table lunch discussions. The Q & A provided an overview of Credit Suisse's businesses and touched upon career tracks of several of the staff. The tour was exciting for our students, and many marveled that some staffers have 5 or more computer monitors to track current events in the markets they work with. The round table discussions were the highlight for many of our women as it provided them with an opportunity to interact at length with some very successful staff. It was a wonderful day and all of us at First Step and Coalition for the Homeless extend our warmest appreciation to our partners at Credit Suisse.

What a Corporate Day at NBC Universal!

This week NBC Universal hosted our First Steppers at their offices for an exciting corporate day. More than a dozen employees of the company met with our students one-on-one to provide feedback on their resumes, conduct mock interviews and network. They even provided a large van to transport our women to and from their offices at 30 Rock. After a nice lunch, we were taken on a tour of several studios including Saturday Night Live and Dr. Oz. We even met some members of the hip hop group The Roots - they are the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. We are so appreciative of Heather and her team at NBC Universal. Thank you again!

New First Step LinkedIn Group

If you're on LinkedIn, please join the First Step Group.

Credit Suisse Partners with First Step and Raises Over $15,000

On September 9th Credit Suisse had a staff appreciation event on a cruise around Manhattan. As part of the event, they organized a creative fundraiser around a Wii boxing tournament for their executive staff. Credit Suisse employees would make donations to benefit First Step in the name of the executive they wanted to see participate in the Wii boxing tournament. This fun event raised over $15,000 for First Step. We extend our heartfelt thanks to Advisory Board members Ralph Sutton, Barbara Kolsun and Jane Singer for their efforts in making this fundraising event happen, and look forward to continued partnerships with Credit Suisse.

Class 96 Begins

Recently 24 remarkable women of Class 96 began their journey towards self-sufficiency. They are in their second week now and beginning to work on their PowerPoint presentations. The focus of the presentations are their short- and long-term goals. This exercise serves multiple purposes, including learning computer software and improving presentation and public speaking skills. Possibly even more important, is thinking about long-term goals. For many First Steppers, it's difficult to focus on the long-term as they face so many daunting obstacles, including domestic violence, homelessness and/or mental health issues. This exercise can begin the process for many of thinking about life 5 years and 10 years down the road, and putting a plan in place to achieve their goals. First Step is here every step of the way, as once our clients become graduates, they are entitled to lifetime services from us. We look forward to continuing to work with Class 96 and all our First Steppers.

New First Step Partner - Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

Today we met with staff members of the New York Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). Through an introduction by First Step Advisory Board member Susan Lerner, we are excited that JDRF will now be an internship partner of First Step. We look forward to a long-lasting partnership with JDRF.

Graduates - Summer Session is here!

Graduates! As I've written to you in letters and emails, I am also writing on this blog to invite you to participate in the third annual First Step Summer Session - two weeks of workshops and activities just for First Step graduates. All First Step graduates are welcome to attend – free of charge. Summer Session is a great opportunity to reconnect with your classmates and network with alumni from other classes.

Summer Session will run from August 17th – August 28th, Monday – Friday. Programming will include Computer Classes, Job Search Workshops, One-on-One Career Coaching, Goal Setting, Seated Meditation, and Literacy Workshops.

We will provide MetroCards and a light continental breakfast each day. If you are currently not working or if you have some time off, Summer Session is the ideal way to jumpstart or reenergize your job search and career. Here is the list of classes:

• Welcome to Summer Session (required) - Monday, 8/17/09, 9:30-10:00
• Computer instruction MS Word -Labels, Mail merge, Editing Large documents, Styles & Formatting - Monday, 8/17/09, 10:00-12:00
• Computer instruction MS Word- Updating Resumes and Cover Letters - Monday, 8/17/09, 1:30-3:30
• Intro to Graduate Job Search - Participation Guidelines - Tuesday, 8/18/09, 9:30-10:30
• Intro to 60 Second Pitch with Elizabeth McGowan - Tuesday, 8/18/09, 10:30-11:00
• Resume Repair Workshop - Tuesday, 8/18/09, 11:30-12:30
• Literacy for Work and Life with Ellen Bogart - Tuesday, 8/18/09, 1:30-4:00
• Computer instruction Internet- Cookies, Pop up Blockers, Spam, Customizing the browsers, History - Wednesday, 8/19/09, 9:30-11:30
• Computer instruction Internet- How to post your resume, Job searches - Wednesday, 8/19/09, 1:30-3:30
• 60 Sec Pitch Practice / Meet the Volunteers - Thursday, 8/20/09, 10:00-11:00
• One-on-One Career Coaching / Computer Practice Time - Thursday, 8/20/09, 11:00-12:30
• Goal Setting - Thursday, 8/20/09, 1:30-2:30
• Cover Letter Workshop - Thursday, 8/20/09, 3:00-4:00
• Cover Letter Drafting - Thursday, 8/20/09, 4:00-5:00
• Computer instruction MS PowerPoint- Creating an album, developing a template, downloading/uploading graphics, adding music and narration - Friday, 8/21/09, 9:30-11:30
• Interviewing Strategies - Friday, 8/21/09, 2:00-3:00
• Interviewing Skills Practice - Friday, 8/21/09, 3:00-4:00
• Computer instruction MS Excel- Creating an inventory database, basic formulas - Monday, 8/24/09, 9:30-11:30
• Computer instruction MS Excel- Statistical formulas, if statements - Monday, 8/24/09, 1:30-3:30
• Professional References Workshop - Tuesday, 8/25/09, 9:30-10:30
• Preparing a Professional Reference Sheet - Tuesday, 8/25/09, 11:00-12:00
• Literacy for Work and Life with Ellen Bogart - Tuesday, 8/25/09, 1:30-4:00
• Computer instruction MS Access- Creating tables, forms and reports, Importing data - Wednesday, 8/26/09, 9:30-11:30
• Computer instruction MS PowerPoint- putting presentations on websites - Wednesday, 8/26/09, 1:30-3:30
• One-on-One Career Coaching / Computer Practice Time - Thursday, 8/27/09, 10:00-12:00
• Body Language Workshop - Thursday, 8/27/09, 1:30-2:30
• Seated Meditation w/ Sri Lalitambika - Thursday, 8/27/09, 3:00-4:00
• Computer instruction MS Outlook Creating user groups, email groups, meeting requests and schedules - Friday, 8/28/09, 9:30-11:30
• Thank You Notes / Follow Up Workshop - Friday, 8/28/09, 2:00-3:00
• End of Summer Session - Come back Tues for Job Search - Friday, 8/28/09, 3:00-4:00

Please call us at 212-776-2074 or e-mail firststepadmin@cfthomeless.org to register. Looking forward to seeing you.

We Welcome New First Step Staff Member Takiyah Weekes!

We are very happy to welcome our new Assistant Director/Manager of Job Development - Takiyah Weekes. She started in First Step this week. Takiyah has over 6 years of experience working in workforce development programs, most recently working at The HOPE Program in Brooklyn. She brings an energy and passion to assisting others achieve their dreams. She will be graduating in December with her Masters in Public Affairs.

Takiyah will be working with the students during Phases 2 and 3 of the Program and then continue working with them as graduates to find the long-term career opportunities they need. If you'd like to reach her, you can call her at (212) 776-2072 or email her at tweekes@cfthomeless.org.

We welcome Takiyah to our team.

First Step Video from 1998 Posted - Inspiring and Amazing Graduate Diana Olaizola

You can view the video here.

Class 95 Started Today!

Today was orientation for Class 95. Twenty remarkable women begin their three month journey towards empowerment and economic self-sufficiency.

Volunteer Fundraising Event brings in $500 for First Step

Volunteers of First Step and Grand Central Feeding Program at Coalition organized a happy hour fundraising event that took place last week. The event brought in over $2,000 (including $500 for First Step). Thank you!

A Message to Friends of First Step

I'm writing because we need your help. As you know, I'm the Director of the First Step Program at Coalition for the Homeless. First Step is a 14-week job-training program that empowers homeless and low-income women to achieve employment and educational goals through computer training, case management, literacy building, internships, job-placement assistance, empathy and hope. Here's the new 5-minute video that chronicles a First Stepper.

Due to various factors including the current recession and the challenging job market, we've faced the same challenges that everyone is facing in terms of finding jobs for our students. Also, we're near the end of our current funding contract (June 30) and are looking for as many job placements as possible to meet and surpass our goals, and hopefully ensure continued funding.

Here's where you come in --- hire one or more of our students as a temp. Even short-term, temporary work can provide a very real benefit to First Step and our students. It can also be a very real benefit to you at a minimal cost. Our students are eager to work hard and can assist you in your office duties, including filing, faxing, photocopying, data entry and other administrative matters. By you providing one or more of our students with this opportunity, you are making a tremendous difference in their lives. You build their self-esteem, they earn some money, and gain work experience. And you get some paperwork done that's been piled on your desk for months!

I do recognize that times are tough right now. Whatever you are able to do is very much appreciated. When you get a chance, please let me know your thoughts.

Take care,

Rich Lombino, J.D., Esq.
Director - First Step Program

Another Reason to Stop by........Our New Library

On April 23rd, volunteers assembled book cases and sorted through the dozens of boxes of books for the Coalition Library. Future book drives will be planned. The Library has been dedicated to Carolyn Rodgers, a beloved Coalition case manager who passed away in 2001. We would welcome Graduates to stop by on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9:00am and 5:00pm and pick up a book. This is a "free book store", so you can keep the books.

Take care,

Rich Lombino, J.D., Esq.
Director - First Step Program