When Steven Stern retired after a 36-year career in the insurance industry, he was not interested in simply slowing down. He wanted to put his experience to work in ways that could help others move forward.

He found that opportunity through the Life Skills Program, part of JFSLA’s Special Needs Life Skills Program.

The program helps prepare adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities for the workforce through meaningful volunteer experiences at JFSLA’s SOVA Valley Food Pantry in Van Nuys, helping them strengthen workplace skills, build confidence, and discover what they can accomplish. Participants work alongside caregivers and volunteers to sort, package, and prepare food and essential goods for distribution.

Steve initially joined the program to offer another layer of support: helping participants build resumes, prepare for interviews, and learn the computer skills needed to pursue employment.

“I like making a difference. I want people to be successful.
If I can share what they need to do, then I feel good.”

— Steven Stern
Volunteer, JFSLA

Steve brings a broad range of experience to the role. He began his career as an underwriting trainee and eventually became the chief financial officer of an small insurance company. He has also worked as a continuing education instructor, operated a computer repair business, coached small-business owners, and taught financial life skills.

At JFSLA, he puts that experience to practical use.’

He helps participants organize their employment history, identify the kind of work they are seeking, and tailor their resumes to specific opportunities. He also teaches the details that can make a difference during an interview: arriving on time, dressing appropriately, maintaining comfortable eye contact, listening carefully, and answering the question that was asked.

“You interview only the job you are interviewing for, and don’t bring up the subject of raises or advancement,” Steve explained. “You show up on time, you are respectful, and you present yourself in a way that shows you are ready.”

His guidance is already producing results. After Steve helped revise one participant’s resume, the participant secured a job at a local print shop

Steve is careful not to claim the accomplishment as his own. The participant earned the position. But a clearer resume—and the encouragement behind it—helped create a path toward the opportunity.

That is often how meaningful change begins: with someone taking the time to listen, ask the right questions, and help another person recognize the strengths they already possess.

Gerry Dicker, Program Coordinator for JFSLA’s Special Needs Life Skills, believes the real transformation begins long before someone is hired. It starts when a person feels seen, supported, and encouraged. “Sometimes all it takes is one person believing in you long enough for you to believe in yourself.” From there, a resume becomes more than a piece of paper—it becomes the beginning of a new chapter.

Steve also hopes to expand his work by offering hands-on computer instruction. Rather than demonstrating from the front of a room, he wants participants to work directly on laptops, practice navigating the internet, create documents, and learn through experience.

“People watching somebody else work on a computer doesn’t teach them,” he said. They need to be hands on. They have to make their own mistakes, and they will learn from them.”

Even when he is not working on a resume, Steve plays an active role in keeping the Life Skills volunteer sessions moving at SOVA. He prepares their materials, replenishes supplies, encourages participants, and helps make sure everyone has a meaningful task.

On a recent morning, he worked beside a participant who was struggling to break down a stubborn cardboard box.

“You’ve got it,” Steve told him. “You can do this.”

With patient encouragement—and a little help—the box finally opened.

It was a small moment, but it reflected the spirit of the program: meeting people where they are, giving them room to try, and reminding them that progress is possible.

For Steve, volunteering is not simply about completing a task. It is about helping people experience purpose, accomplishment, and greater independence.

And sometimes, it can help turn a resume into a job—and possibility into a new beginning.