This month, the Somerville Community Corporation's (SCC) First Source Jobs Initiative celebrates one year of connecting local job seekers with local jobs. It's a clear-cut mission, but one that takes many hands, minds and partners to make a reality.

Stemming from SCC's Jobs for Somerville organizing work, and in partnership with the City of Somerville and The Career Place, SCC launched First Source in March 2014 to provide soft-skill workshops and individual case management to best match Somerville job seekers to local employers. With an emphasis on residents facing barriers to employment, First Source quickly expanded its vision, participation and impact throughout the year, illustrating a great need for support services like this in Somerville.

First Source "Year 1" Highlights:

• Hosted 48 soft-skills workshops on things as financial education and  interviewing tips, reaching 125 individuals and enrolling 256 to the talent bank;
• Enrolled 154 people into talent bank through active intakes, identifying more than twice as many people than predicted actively seeking employment;
• Performed case management with over 130 people, assisting on a individual basis with resume preparation and mapping out a goals to secure ideal employment;
• Helped 61 people find job placements in Somerville;
• Registered 77 employers to support local hire;
• Held 2 Job Fairs, attracting 118 job seekers;
• Supported 53 youth ages 18-24 under the new Pocket Change with job training and short and long-term employment and 20 of them obtained employment

It truly is a time to celebrate 
While SCC's vision for First Source and its impact on the Somerville community continues to grow into its second year, so does its funding. We thank the City of Somerville for its continued support for this program which will benefit so many residents.
For more information on First Source, contact Jorge Colón 617-776-5931 x232 or jcolon@somervillecdc.org.