Stories Highlighted in our performance updates

Will Work For Hope

Glenn: The Tools Needed for Success

Shanika: Now She's The Interviewer

Mayor Daley Launches The Cara Program's New Venture

Will Work for Hope

Deloitte, Goldman, Sachs & Co., and CareerBuilder are just a few of the major corporations who have collaborated with The Cara Program for their corporate service days in the past year.

A full listing includes:

Goldman, Sachs & Co. - Deloitte - CareerBuilder - Salesforce.com - Wells Fargo - Charter One Bank - Banana Republic - JPMorgan Chase - Accenture

The benefits of these service days to Cara students and staff are numerous.  In addition to receiving career coaching and interview practice from professionals in a wide range of industries, including the apparel sector, software as a service, commercial and retail banking, investment banking, business consulting, and recruitment, Cara students also benefit from the opportunity to network with and be motivated by professionals who are succeeding in the Chicago market.  And, sometimes as a result of these service days, a few students even find themselves invited back to these companies for real interviews for open positions within their firms. 
 
“We are very fortunate to have so many great companies select The Cara Program for their volunteer days,” says Evera Ivy, Manager of Career Development.  “To have this influx of expertise and energy is really exciting.  It is a great way to unite both the students and our corporate partners around a common goal – creating career opportunities!”

And, we hope that in some small way, our corporate partners get something in return through this process.  We want the individuals who volunteer through corporate service days to leave inspired by the vitality, the deep current of community and the sense of hope that is ever present at The Cara Program.  We believe that everyone benefits from a special day of Motivation!

For information about scheduling your company’s service day with The Cara Program, please contact Evera Ivy at 312-798-3301.

Glenn: The Tools Needed for Success

Glenn loves his job at MPC Products Corporation.  A mathematically-inclined navy veteran with a resume full of technology-related certifications, Glenn is proud of his work manufacturing parts for jet engines.  At the end of a full day, he is satisfied to know that his efforts will help contribute to the safety and reliability of air travel.

Despite his certifications and skills, Glenn was out of work and living in a homeless shelter in late 2006.  He went through some difficult times in the decade after having being honorably discharged form the navy, and was looking for a new chance to be successful.

Glenn dedicated himself to the transformational teachings of The Cara Program while on his journey to personal and professional success.  His coaches reminded him regularly that, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you make of it.”  Through this training, Glenn regained his faith in himself and embraced his future.

Glenn attributes his job placement and success to the community support and career training he received at The Cara Program.  He says, “[The training at The Cara Program] is a powerful tool to see how others see you.  You can only do so much on your own at the library.  It helps so much to have other people in your corner.” 

Glenn has a new lease on life and is working hard to continue his success.  He stays enthusiastic about his work and looks forward to a day when he can be completely self-sufficient.

Aware that other individuals with his technical aptitude may be admitted to The Cara Program, Glenn also remains in contact with staff by regularly sending in job leads for other students who have similar qualifications or interests.  It is The Cara Program’s philosophy that personal transformation requires a healthy network of family and friends to support each individual.  Though graduated, Glenn does not forget the connections he has to the rest of the Cara family.  He continues to be motivated to do all he can to give back to his community.

Shanika: Now She’s the Interviewer

Eric Weinheimer, President of The Cara Program was thrilled to get to his desk early one morning to find an email message from a woman who went though The Cara Program in 2003.

A single mother affected by poverty, Shanika came to The Cara Program in search of opportunity.  She spent the first several weeks focusing on foundational skills that would facilitate her job readiness.  She quickly aligned with key principles that stay with her to this day – including her email tagline, “proper preparation prevents poor performance”.  Throughout her time at The Cara Program, Shanika built her confidence, made presentations without fear, strengthened her data entry skills and eventually secured a quality job with career potential at the prestigious company of JPMorgan Chase. 

More than four years later, Shanika continues to thrive at JPMorgan Chase, and has quickly advanced in her company – now serving as Remittance Supervisor.  As Supervisor, she is charged with the responsibility of hiring for her team and has had the opportunity to interview new Cara students looking to secure long-term employment within her company.  In her email to Mr. Weinheimer, Shanika said:

“I am very impressed with the professionalism and wealth of company knowledge Cara candidates have. I shouldn't be surprised. I remember the intense training I had. It has helped me climb the corporate ladder here. I owe of all it to The Cara Program.” 

Shankia was so impressed that she hired two former Cara students, who she now supervises.  Shanika’s success illustrates the impact of The Cara Program.  By providing intensive life and job skills training, as well as quality job placement and support services to Shanika and her classmates, The Cara Program did more than to give her the opportunity to begin to lift her family up out of poverty.  Indeed, The Cara Program and JPMorgan Chase gave her the opportunity to begin an exciting, professional career path in which she could shine, and through which the relationship between both organizations was strengthened.

Shanika impressed the management at JPMorgan Chase when she applied the skills that she developed at The Cara Program to her work.  She set precedence for other Cara students that would follow her.  She modeled behavior for all to follow – not only as a service-oriented professional but also as a mother – financially empowered to better provide for her family.

The power of The Cara Program comes through in those moments when men and women reclaim their self-sufficiency – instilling in their children the power of commitment, and creating the foundation to stop the transfer of poverty from one generation to the next. 

Mayor Daley launches partnership between The Cara Program, Partners

On March 4, 2008, Mayor Daley held a press conference to launch The Career Pathways Initiative, a project funded by the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and operated by Cara staff members in parthership with, and located at, the University of Chicago.

Please read the full story at the University of Chicago Chronicle.

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