When you don’t address the whole person in helping the unemployed and homeless re-enter the workforce, the chances of long-term re-employment are regrettably near zero.
Richmond, CA (PRWEB) June 05, 2014
Saffron Strand announced that Success Performance Solutions President and Perfect Labor Storm author Ira S Wolfe will open its Fifth Annual Homeless Workforce Conference. The event will be held on June 16-17 at the Richmond (CA) Memorial Auditorium. This year’s theme is “Let’s Get Serious: Skills, Jobs, Careers as Paths Out of Homelessness and Poverty.”
Saffron Strand’s Annual Homeless Workforce Conference is the only forum nationwide to address the critical question: How do we help the homeless — and those at risk of homelessness — to get back to work and increase their economic independence? The event attracts several hundred people from across the country including federal, state, and local officials, advocates, case workers, and people working on the front lines of the fight to end homelessness.
Dr. Wolfe was chosen to open the event, according to Saffron Strand Executive Director Yvonne Nair, for his “compelling thought leadership on the direction of jobs, work, and the workplace.” Wolfe forecast a “Perfect Labor Storm” over 15 years ago which described how globalization, disruptive technology, the Internet, and demographic shifts would converge to redefine how work gets done. He has since published several books including The Perfect Labor Storm and Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization.
“Our country has not experienced any shift in jobs and the workplace like this since the late 1800s and early 20th century,” says Wolfe. “The only comparison to the revolutionary changes we are experiencing in the labor market is the shift from an agricultural to an industrial society. The pace of change this time around however has no precedent. The result is that people are not only being displaced from jobs because of a slow economy but many of those jobs are becoming extinct.”
An advocate for employment-first as the path for ending homelessness, Wolfe brings an insightful perspective to improving the success rates of job training, personal and career development programs, reports Nair. Wolfe is one of the country’s experts in raising the Quality of Motivation, a concept he will introduce during a Monday afternoon workshop.
“Most everyone is motivated,” says Wolfe. “But too often people are just spinning their wheels even when they have the necessary job skills. They are not as effective as they can be because their behaviors and habits are inefficient. Often their life skills are just plain counter-productive. When you don’t address the whole person in helping the unemployed and homeless re-enter the workforce, the chances of long-term re-employment are regrettably near zero.”
The 2014 Conference features Monday and Tuesday plenary sessions with leading national and Bay Area authorities, more than 20 workshops with specialized training, Roundtable Discussions, Evening of Diversity Reception, Advocacy Luncheon with the Jesse Curtis Awards for Reducing Homelessness, and breakfasts and lunches catered by Conference sponsor La Bonne Cuisine. Other sponsors include the City of Richmond, The California Endowment, Kaiser Permanente, National Health Care for the Homeless Council, and more.
Both Dr. Wolfe and Ms. Nair are available for interviews prior to and during the conference. To schedule an interview or receive more about Saffron Strand, please visit http://saffronstrand.org or contact Yvonne Nair at 510.275.9594, e-mail Yvonne(at)SaffronStrand(dot)org.
For more information about the 2014 Conference, go to http://www.saffronstrand.org or to register, go to https://co.clickandpledge.com/advanced/default.aspx?wid=51275.
About Saffron Strand
Saffron Strand http://saffronstrand.org provides opportunities for homeless people to build job and social skills so they can achieve and sustain gainful employment and economic independence. It is located in Richmond CA.
Ira S Wolfe is president of Success Performance Solutions (http://www.successperformancesolutions.com), an employee test and leadership assessment consulting firm. Wolfe is also author of The Perfect Labor Storm and Geeks, Geezers, and Googlization.
