Kherut

WORKFIRCE TRAINING PROGRAM

Often, women who have escaped from exploitation lack the financial resources, soft skills, and traditional work experiences needed for stability. Without the prospect of gainful employment, and the margin to make mistakes, survivors are left with few viable options to themselves and their families housed and safe. Before a woman can even hope to secure a permanent home, regain custody of her children, or purchase a reliable car, she needs a stable job. Every other step is dependent on her ability to work.Kherut was founded on the conviction that the key to permanent change for survivors of human trafficking and other significant trauma is training and long-term, supportive employment opportunities in a safe and understanding workplace environment. BUT, Kherut is not just a temporary training program preparing to send these women out to find another job. Instead, we are a holistic and comprehensive support system with many different long-term career opportunities. Kherut is not just a job – we are a partner on the path to a life-changing, sustainable career. Kherut’s innovative solution begins by working with partnering organizations such as Grandma’s House of Hope, Teen Project/Vera’s Sanctuary, Access CA, Waymakers, Salvation Army and Casa Teresa, Kherut serves women in Orange County by engaging survivors from life challenging circumstances in a 420-hour, paid training program to learn skills in food service, cooking, catering, event planning, menu design, social media, customer service, bookkeeping, inventory control, marketing, sales, and problem-solving related to the business. Long-term employees have opportunities to advance within the organization or leave with the skills, experience, and references they need to be successful and independent outside of it. It is Kherut’s goal that employees will want to grow with the organization and promote to higher level positions; however, should they decide not to pursue a career with Kherut, the hard and soft skills they gain with us crossover into many different industries, giving survivors the experience and references they need to build their resumes. The training program is based on a 30-hour work week, with a goal of completing this phase in 12 weeks. However, because we believe each woman deserves a fresh start without judgement, our training program is tailored to each participant’s proficiency, based upon their learning skills, availability, and enthusiasm to learn. Often, the women we serve have such a deficit of soft skills that we must begin with the most basic skills, such as showing up as scheduled, or the appropriate time to take breaks. With support and compassion, we can create a safe place to work through this process and gain the most basic skills required for employment.