Project
Self-Sufficiency announces that the next session of its popular employment skills
training program, Higher Opportunities for Women (HOW), will launch April 8th. The 16-week HOW Program combines intensive
computer skills training with classroom instruction and has been reconfigured
for a hybrid of in-person and virtual experiences, due to the ongoing public
health crisis. Curriculum prepares women
who have been out of the work force or underemployed to seek entry-level office
administrative positions. Classes will
operate Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 – 3:00 p.m.
through July 29th. In-person instruction
will take place at the agency’s campus, located at 127 Mill Street in Newton.

Women
who take part in the agency’s HOW program can expect 80 hours of computer
skills training, including instruction in Microsoft Word, Excel, and other
applications. Normally, the HOW program
also includes 40 hours of classroom instruction and 120 hours at an unpaid
externship at a community employment site, which further prepares participants
to successfully venture into the job market.
Since the onset of the pandemic, the workplace experience component has
been eliminated in favor of coursework focusing on workplace navigation, life
skills training, resume preparation, and interviewing strategies.
Since
the HOW program’s inception, more than 1,000 women have gained self-confidence
and learned marketable skills which placed them on the path to economic
self-sufficiency. Deborah Berry-Toon,
Executive Director of Project Self-Sufficiency explains that the HOW program is
more than just a job-skills program.
“The Higher Opportunities for Women program offers participants the
opportunity to gain the skills and confidence to compete in today’s job market,
and that in turn, helps put food on the table, pay the rent, and ultimately
turn around the prospects for the entire family. Giving our participants the tools necessary
to become economically self-sufficient makes families stable and helps the
entire community.”
Project
Self-Sufficiency’s Higher Opportunities for Women program launches on April 8th.
To enroll, or to find out more information about the program, call Project
Self-Sufficiency at 973-940-3500.
Information about Project Self-Sufficiency is available at www.projectselfsufficiency.org.