Daily Work

🌷 We're still feeling grateful for the generosity that helped make our April Table Host Gathering so special.

Thank you to Liza at Maude Florals (https://www.maudefloralsco.com/) for donating a beautiful floral arrangement that lasted two full weeks 🤩 and helped create a warm and welcoming atmosphere for the evening.

It's often the small touches that help people feel welcomed, valued, and connected.

Thank you, Maude Florals, for helping us honor our table hosts. 💙And thanks to Daily Work Boardmember Amanda Becker for connecting us!

Some people leave a job and never look back. Others leave and realize they miss the people.

That's what happened with Judy Sharken Simon.

After retiring from Daily Work in December 2024, Judy found that she wasn't quite ready to step away from the community she had helped build. Instead, she returned as a volunteer.

Her enthusiasm for Daily Work also inspired her husband, Chris Simon, to join our Board of Directors in January 2025.

When asked why she came back, Judy said:

"Daily Work walks its talk. They are a deeply mission and values-based organization that knows how employment and a caring professional can lift people up and create the kind of community we all want to be a part of. Whether in a paid role, or now in a volunteer role, I want to support their work."

We're grateful that Judy chose to stay connected and continue sharing her time, talents, and heart with our community.

Want to explore volunteer roles that might be a fit for you? Visit our website to learn more. https://daily-work.org/support-us/volunteer.html

More than 300 people joined us for our sold-out Steps to Success event on May 20, celebrating 26 years of creating pathways to meaningful employment and brighter futures. ⭐🚀

Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, we surpassed our fundraising goal and raised more than $180,000 to support job seekers in our community. 🎯

To everyone who attended, donated, volunteered, sponsored, or helped spread the word --- THANK YOU. 🙌 Your support makes it possible for more people to find quality employment and build the futures they choose.

We all grow better together.

Thank you to Loui Photography for generously donating their services for the event and for beautifully capturing the spirit of the night. 📷💙

What a night. 💛

Thank you to everyone who joined us at Daily Work’s ＳＯＬＤ ＯＵＴ Steps to Success event and supported our mission so generously. What an incredible night of community, connection, and hope.

We were especially honored to have John Choi open the evening by sharing parts of his personal journey with such honesty and emotion that the entire room felt it. His words helped all of us understand more deeply just how important it is to show up for immigrants and other marginalized community members.

And we are excited to share that together, we reached our event goal! 🎉

We’ll be back soon with final numbers and more photos and details from the evening. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the warmer weather and have a relaxing weekend ahead. ☀️

This summer, our Equity Chats are centered around The Warmth of Other Suns, and I’m almost through the first 200 pages. It has been an incredible read so far... sobering, painful, inspiring, and deeply human all at once.

Even though this book tells the story of the Great Migration within the United States, the emotions and experiences feel familiar to the stories I hear every day at Daily Work: leaving behind what is familiar, searching for safety, opportunity and stability, and real opportunity for a better life.

The history is specific, but the humanity feels universal. And even in the middle of so much hardship, there is resilience, courage, hope, and community woven throughout these pages.

This book has already challenged me and taught me so much, and I’m really excited that we’ll get to reflect on it together during our Summer Equity Chats.

If you’ve been looking for a meaningful summer read and thoughtful conversation, I hope you’ll join us on June 6 for our first discussion, focused on the first 205 pages. We’ll continue in July and August as we work through the rest of the book together.

Learn more or sign up here: https://daily-work.org/news-events/equity-chats.html

Ahead of Daily Work’s May 20 Steps to Success Benefit Dinner, we’re sharing a sneak peek video featuring Mebrat’s employment journey.

After arriving in Minnesota, Mebrat faced barriers navigating employment, education, transportation, and career pathways in a new country. With long-term, relationship-based support from Daily Work, she pursued English classes, earned certifications, secured healthcare employment, and is continuing to build a career in the medical field.

Her story reflects something we see every day at Daily Work: workforce development is most effective when it is personalized, holistic, and connected to the realities people are navigating outside of work.

🎥 Watch the preview - https://youtu.be/-2nbwXmNlL0?si=nNOVlB-mf6Af5wV-
📅 Steps to Success Benefit Dinner — May 20
📍 Minneapolis, MN

As we prepare for Daily Work’s Steps to Success event, we want to recognize and thank our incredible sponsors:

💎 Platinum Sponsor: Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.
🥇 Gold Sponsor: Old National Bank
🥈 Silver Sponsor: Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Your support helps make this evening possible and strengthens Daily Work’s mission to partner with people as they pursue quality work, stability, and opportunity. Truly, we truly grow better together. 💛

The Spring/Summer Daily Work newsletter is now available. Judging by this photo, it already has one very attentive reader. 🐈☕📖

Inside, you’ll meet inspiring job seekers, get to know one of our board members, and read our 2026 Annual Report.

This issue also features Mebrat’s powerful story about resettling in MN and finding another "family" with Daily Work, along with updates on the growing needs facing job seekers across our community and the ways people are coming together to respond with compassion, creativity, and action.

Take a look and see what we’re building together. Check your snail mailbox or read it online here: https://daily-work.org/news-events/join-our-mailing-list.html

📣 Get a sneak peek at one of the powerful stories you’ll hear at Steps to Success on May 20.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/-2nbwXmNlL0?si=8fhjXIDusYz8_A87

Steps to Success is more than an event. It’s a coming together in solidarity and celebration of the kind of community we can build together. One defined by opportunity, not obstacles.

Join us for an evening of stories, connection, and hope as we celebrate the impact we can make together through Daily Work.

✨ Free to attend
🍽 Gather and Dinner: 5:15 - 6:25 p.m.
🎤 Program: 6:30 - 8:00 p.m.
🅿️ Free parking

Register today: https://daily-work.org/news-events/steps-to-success.html