2008 Jobs for Life Leadership Conference
June 5-7, 2008 - Raleigh, NC
Edenton Street United Methodist Church
"Let Your Light Shine"
“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and
give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” – Matthew 5:16
 This is exactly what happened at the recent 2008 Jobs for Life Leadership Conference. The theme for the conference was based on Matthew 5:16, "Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." The conference, which took place in Raleigh, NC from Thursday, June 5 through Saturday, June 7, was filled with story upon story of God's faithfulness displayed through those engaged with Jobs for Life.
People traveled from all over the country, even as far as the US Virgin  Islands in hope of finding a renewed sense of mission and strength from their fellowship with one another.
This was surely accomplished from start to finish through the opening night of worship led by Mark Schultz, the informative workshops dealing with all the ins and outs of running a Jobs for Life classes, a powerful and emotional awards presentation ceremony, and inspiring messages from dynamic speakers. Soon, we will communicate the dates and location of the 2009 Jobs for Life Leadership Conference. We look forward to seeing many of you there.
JfL Awards Celebration
The highlight of the 2008 Leadership Conference was the celebration of the 2008 Jobs for Life award winners. Three awards were presented to individuals and organizations that went above and beyond in their efforts to embody JfL's purpose to elevate the power of work to transform lives.
2008 JfL Samaritan Award (Volunteer of the Year)
2008 JfL Site of the Year
2008 JfL Graduate of the Year
Below highlights the 2008 Award Winners:
JfL Samaritan Award - Fred Hubach, Jr, Ephrata, PA
 Fred Hubach, Jr. decided to lead a Jobs for Life class for his Service Learning Project as a part of his senior year at Ephrata High School. Initially, the plan was to use the Jobs for Life curriculum as intended - to teach soft job skills to unemployed and underemployed mainstream individuals. Along in the planning, Fred encountered some roadblocks with what would have been the organizations referring students to the program. Rather than give up, Fred changed course and envisioned an opportunity to lead the JfL class for four developmentally challenged adults served by his church's Special Needs Ministry. It represented considerable creativity on Fred's part to imagine extending the course to this specialized audience. All of the students grew significantly in their confidence and ability to interact with others, and two obtained their first real jobs as a result of the class. Lives will forever be changed becuase of Fred's unique initiative and leadership.
JfL Site of the Year - Advance Memphis, Memphis, TN (Steve Nash, Executive Director)
 Advance Memphis had only 3 students in its first Jobs for Life class at the beginning of 2006. And unfortunately, none of the students graduated. The class, in Steve Nash's words, was a bomb." But Steve and his team kept running classes. As a result, people started getting jobs, word of mouth began to spread, and businesses started to locate operations in the neighborhood. At the end of last year, Steve called the Jobs for Life  office to communicate the news that over 130 people had applied for the 16 seats in the Fall Jobs for Life class at Advance Memphis.
Through its perseverence, Advance Memphis has had an extraordinary impact in the community it serves, the Claiborne and Foote neighborhood, the poorest zip code in Tennessee. Generational poverty is being broken, familes are being restored and the community is being transformed.
JfL Graduate of the Year - Frank Turner, Jr, Nashville, TN
Having struggled with cocaine addiction for most of his life,  Frank Turner was incarcerated 7 times and faced a 95 year prison sentence. Just before his last release, Frank enrolled in and graduated from the Jobs for Life class. Through the class, he began to understand his value and learn the principles to overcome the roadblocks in his life. He has now been out of prison the longest period of time since 1985 (18 months) and owns his own brick mason business. Listening to Frank's acceptence speech, it became very clear to everyone in the room, right there in front of us was the very reason we do what we do: a life transformed.
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