Introducing The Catapult Papers
We are excited to partner with The Boston Foundation and SkillWorks on The Catapult Papers, a four-part series of essays on the future of workforce development. The papers, authored by JVS President & CEO Jerry Rubin, will be released over the next few weeks, leading up to a forum at The Boston Foundation in March. The first paper, titled Next Generation Workforce Development Organizations for Our Time: How JVS is Re-Tooling for a New Economy, was released yesterday. We look forward to the release of the next three papers and to continuing this partnership!
Join Us For Our Next Awake HR Event
Please join us on February 14th for " The Grand Bargain: What You Need to Know," the next event in our new JVS Awake HR series. We will be joined by Tracy Thomas Boland for a discussion about complying with Massachusetts's new minimum wage and paid family leave laws. We will address the “nuts and bolts” of the new law and run through some hypothetical scenarios that show you how the law will play out in real life. We are looking forward to a great discussion!
JVS Tax Site Opens on January 29th
Each year, JVS offers free tax-preparation services to individuals and families in the Greater Boston area. The JVS Tax Center helps people file their taxes for free, ensure they are receiving any credits that are due to them, and make the most of their tax refund, while avoiding predatory tax preparation services. Last year, over 550 individuals filed their taxes through the JVS Tax Center, receiving a total of nearly $750,000 in tax refunds, including $250,000 in Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). Individuals who worked in 2018 and have a household income of $55,000 or less are eligible for this free service. The Tax Center opens on January 29th, and appointments can be made online starting January 22nd.
Faces of JVS: Catalina Bello Puentes 
Catalina Bello Puentes  serves as a Community Outreach Specialist in JVS's English for Advancement Program. She is originally from Bogota, Colombia, and now lives in Revere. Catalina started her journey at JVS as an AmeriCorps member. She earned a Bachelor's degree in Economics at Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Columbia, as well as a Bachelor's degree in Management at UMass Boston. Her favoriate part about working at JVS is getting to help community members and impact lives in a positive way.