When “Anna” arrived in San Francisco from Russia with her two children, she was dealing with a divorce, worsening eye problems and accounting skills that didn’t translate into the American workplace.
She took a job with Utility Workshop, and through its many connections and resources, Anna’s life improved — her insurance paid for the vision treatment she needed, she attended night school to upgrade her accounting skills and she even received divorce counseling. Anna has now started her own business in Sunnyvale.
“She takes me out to lunch!” says Toba Olson, associate director, who’s been with Utility Workshop since 1988. According to Olson, Anna’s story of success is just one of many.
Utility Workshop’s roots are grounded in a time of crisis. In the early 1940s Utility Workshop, founded by Jewish Family and Children’s Services, provided a place for Holocaust refugees fleeing Europe to obtain job training in their new home. They made aprons in the loft of a San Francisco garage.
Fast-forward 60 years, Utility Workshop, now a self-sufficient business, but still affiliated with JFCS, is giving a jumpstart to recent emigres, such as Anna, as well as seniors and those with mild disabilities. What they learn is the art of hand assembly.
“The work we do is all handwork,” explains Steve Simon, director.
From specialty packaging to press kits to point-of-sale displays, Utility Workshop’s services are used by large and prominent Bay Area companies, such as Bank of America, Old Navy and Visa, while providing life-building services, resources and support to emigres and those in need. Over the years the number of Jews aided by Utility Workshop programs has varied from 20 to 60 percent of its employee base; the greatest number occurred during the height of Soviet immigration in the 1970s.
“It is like the United Nations around here,” Simon laughs. “We’ve had people here from Ethiopia, Bosnia, Iraq —people who have been persecuted by Hussein, Vietnam and Hungary.”
“Typically we see people new to the country, sometimes political refugees,” explains Simon. “We train them to do the kind of handwork we do. The ones who have greater talent tend to get more jobs. Some work their way up to supervisors.” Recently, one employee retired after 26 years with Utility Workshop.
There are so many languages spoken at any given moment at Utility Workshop that those who are learning English are called on to translate for their co-workers.
Utility Workshop doesn’t hire off the street. Everyone who comes to the organization goes through Jewish Vocational Service or a similar organization, and everyone has a counselor or social worker. Utility Workshop provides medical benefits, paid vacation and a pay scale that starts off at slightly higher than minimum wage. The organization provides the flexibility for people to alter their schedules for family or medical reasons.
At this writing Utility Workshop has 28 employees, but it’s had as many as 60 in the past. According to Simon and Olson, this is an indication of some of the challenges Utility Workshop has faced in recent years.
“Since the economy tanked in the Bay Area, we’ve had quite a struggle,” says Simon. The work “has gone overseas or to Mexico.”
Utility Workshop is responding by working with a consultant to come up with new services while developing Utility Workshop as a “true social enterprise.” Plans include providing more formal job training including computer and management skills and English lessons.
It is Olson and Simon’s hope that with this new initiative, Utility Workshop will continue to build new relationships with Bay Area companies and continue to serve the community – from the younger emigres who work for Utility Workshop as a springboard to another career to the folks who have made their career with the organization.