Monday mornings can be pretty discouraging if you don't have a job.
To ease the burden and help keep people motivated, the Greater Richmond Chamber is starting Next Steps, a pilot program to support workers who have been laid off.
The four-week course will challenge participants to acknowledge their strengths, seek out career options and pursue job leads.
Up to 32 people will be accepted in this session.
The hope is that participants will act as a peer group and keep each other motivated and engaged, said Stephanie Brenner-Kirksey, the chamber's executive vice president for programs and services.
"It's so easy to get discouraged, which is getting the best of some really talented people right now," she said.
The program will consist of four two-hour sessions, each focused on a different topic, such as taking stock and crafting a vision.
Applications are being accepted through Feb. 2 for the pilot program, which is free. Acceptance notifications will go out Feb. 9, and the first class will start Feb. 16.
Future cycles, if pursued, will have a $99 registration fee, which, like the test session, includes facilitated sessions, a workbook and access to chamber resources.
Next Steps is open only to people who have been let go within the past six months from a company that is an active member of the chamber.
A new cycle will start in April and every month afterward until the need is no longer there, Brenner-Kirksey said.
To apply, for details or to find out if your former employer is a chamber member, visit, www.GRCC.com.
-- Emily C. Dooley
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