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Sacramento Valley Organizing Project
While the Alameda Corridor Jobs Project was basically a new organization
created solely for the purpose of bringing jobs to particular neighborhoods,
the Sacramento Valley Organizing Community (SVOC) is an ongoing
community based organization in the Sacramento Valley area of California
that is moving into the job creation area.
 Affiliated
with the Industrial Areas Foundation, originally founded by Saul
Alinksy, the SVOC has a strong base in the faith community in the
three counties around Sacramento. It has a long history of work
around affordable housing, cooperative developments and a variety
of neighborhood and regional issues.
The organization was searching for a way to organize and work with
people coming off welfare. In cooperation with the local Private
Industry Council, the Sacramento Valley organization decided to
create their own version of "one-stop" job centers. These
would be centers located at area churches that could help people
move from welfare into good jobs paying wages. A wide range of services
is available, including childcare.
 Drawing
upon their extensive basis of community contacts and referrals from
local social service agencies, the community based coalition is
responsible for recruitment.
To ensure that there are jobs in which program participants can
go, the SVCO has worked to identify employment sectors that offer
decent, entry-level jobs with career ladders and other opportunities
for growth. The initial target sector is health care, an employment
sector that appears to have good prospects in the area.
The
best way to move people out of poverty and toward the middle
class is good jobs.
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To better prepare participants for entry into the
workforce, a one-month job readiness course is offered. This focuses
on basic skills, as well as on problem solving and on how workers
can work together to overcome difficulties. It features a presentation
from the Service Employees International Union on their efforts
to represent workers in the health care sector. The SVOC is also
exploring a more formal relationship in which program participants
can become SEIU associate members.
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