David Spickard, president of Jobs for Life, shared the following this morning at the Jobs For Life Global Leadership Gathering:

1. The problem is not lack of a job. It’s a lack of identity.

Job training programs failed to go after the real problem: Helping people understand who you are. You are not a deadbeat dad. You are not a welfare mother. You are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image.

2. People need to know why they should work.

You are created to work. Every time you go to work you have an opportunity to worship the creator of the universe through your work.

3. Being ready to work is about character first and skill a distinct second.

Based on feedback and study from companies, the aspects needed are professionalism, teamwork, communication, and ethics and social responsibility. You can have all the education and skill in the world – but if you show up late with a bad attitude, companies aren’t really that interested. You can be an ex-offender with poor work history and lack of education, and companies will hire you and invest in your training so you can be the kind of employee they need.

4. Everyone needs community, a healthy “who you know” network.

If someone has been in prison, what’s their network when they get out? Family? The streets? What’s needed is not just a nice group. We’ve been going after the wrong problem with the wrong solution. There is no job training program going after the heart and the identity that is biblically-based and provides a “who you know” network that partners with you as you walk through life.

5. The solution lies with the church.

NOTE: Jobs for Life has more than 200 sites in 37 cities and 4 countries.

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