News  and Announcements.  
Something exciting always seems to be happening--new ideas, connections, people, programs. Although the ENDespair Project started in New York City, conversations with and mail from individuals across the nation continue to spur interest and alliances.  

Workshop Available. Dorri Jacobs created a workshop, "Healing Stress About Work: Learn to Manage Change and Develop Strategies for a Better Future" to  help people clarify and discuss their personal issues about working today.  It is offered in formats, i.e. 2-3 hours, several sessions, half-day, all-day.  She taught 2 sections of this course at the Learning Annex New York City.  

To schedule this workshop for your group, contact her at endespair@aol.com  The workshop will be designed especially for the needs of participants.  Here is a description:

Working can be tough. If you have a position that doesn't pay enough, requires long hours and doesn't give you the recognition you deserve, or if you're unemployed, you may often feel overwhelmed. But no matter what your situation, there are ways you can deal with, conquer, and even benefit from job-related stress.

In this inspiring and informative seminar, Dr. Dorri Jacobs, a work-issues coach and change expert, will set you on the path to releasing stress aboutwork. Through visualization, self-assessment exercises, writing, dramatization and discussion, you'll discover:

• The real reasons you're stressed out (you may be surprised!)  
• How to recover from psychic violence 
• How to set priorities that expand your choices  
• Ways to prepare for change  
• When and why despair will help you become more hopeful
• Where you can find the courage to dream
• How to plan for tomorrow.

Don't let stress keep you down — learn how to use it to improve your life!

New Book. To give you coping tools for working today, I'm writing another how-to book. The title is Work: How to Deal With Despair, Heal Psychic Wounds, Ease Stress, Survive and Thrive, © 2001 by Dorri Jacobs.  It includes stories of people like you, tips, exercises, questions, suggestions, summaries, practical strategies and recommended resources.  

You can help:

• Visit stories.htm, part of this site, then send your comments.
• Your referrals to a literary agent and/or publisher are most appreciated!

Building a Collective Consciousness.  ENDespair is an informal alliance of those deeply concerned about the despair, stress or powerlessness many people experience about work, who pledge to continue a dialogue.  

• The Pledge to continue our dialogue, first distributed at "A Community Forum About Work," is now available to visitors at this site at pledge.htm --for you to copy and print it, e-mail it, give it to your family, friends and co-workers.  We can make a difference.  Silence keeps the status quo.  Communication is an important step toward empowering people, toward change.  One voice is hollow. Together, we will be heard.

• Are you interested in working with this project? Transformation of the work world really needs the energy of many of us in diverse areas of the map. I always envisioned ENDespair as a free-flowing project, which includes a variety of individuals and organizations concerned about these issues. Now, in response to your requests, a new category of ENDespair Associates is underway.  
  

  Suggest the way you want to be involved.  A few examples: Free--or greatly discounted--services to help people improve their work lives (i.e. career counseling, resume writing, legal assistance). You probably have other, wonderful ideas.  Send a message explaining what you will do to endespair@aol.com
  
  If approved as an Associate, a short description of your contribution to the project (that ties in with ENDespair's mission, will be included on this site, at no charge.  

Mediation. This option for resolving disputes and smoothing interaction is becoming more popular.  Recent projects, thanks to referrals:  Assisting the owners of a firm to resolve their differences and improve communication with their staff and each other; Sessions for a couple to learn new ways to handle anger and salvage their relationship.  Conflict creates stress, frustration, stress and despair. Mediation offers a wonderful, fast, low-cost, empowering, non-adversarial alternative to litigation.

A Shift.  Even though the word may still have negative connotations, even though a degree of denial still exists, the subject of despair about work seems to be "out of the closet." People are talking more openly about their feelings and willing to admit their distress.  The need for support is acknowledged, and groups have formed all over the map, so people can come to share their experiences.  Articles on work stress appear in national publications (i.e. Solidarity, published by the United Auto Workers.

Articles.  Words in print quickly reach a geographically wide and diverse audience. The goal is to provide information, offer support and increase public awareness about what it means to be working today and where change is needed. Several pieces by Dorri Jacobs appeared in Career Magazine  (on-line): "Getting the Most From Your Staff: Ten Do's and Don't for Managers," "A Dialogue On Downsizing" and "20 Tips For Coping With A Critical Boss." A short essay on ways to cope, "Are You Filled with Despair Over Work?" was in National Business Employment Weekly.  "Ways to  Deal With Despair About Work" appeared in Disgruntled: The Business Publication for People Who Work for a Living  (a Web publication) and a similar piece appeared in IPMA News, published by International Personnel Management Association. "Do's and Don'ts for Managers " appeared Hilites, published by the Defense Department at the Pentagon.

New opportunities for publication are very welcome, as a means to continue this dialogue.

If you are interested in obtaining the right to publish any of these articles or wish to commission a new piece on a related topic for your publication, please contact her at  Endespair@aol.com

Alliances. Dr. Dorri Jacobs is available as a guest speaker for your event and can be reached at endespair@aol.com  

Collaboration with other pioneering groups that address the concerns of working people has been a priority:

• Thanks to The Lifebridge Foundation and individual donors, a collaborative program, "A Community Forum About Work: An Afternoon for Awareness and Action," was held in New York City during the Jobs for All Season, on October 25, 1998. The program included speakers on Your Legal Rights, Living with Economic and Psychic Insecurity, Faith and Economic Justice; Making Retirement a Reality; Working in the New Economy; Creating Social Change, live music and a photo exhibit about work. Among those presenting were The National Jobs For All Coalition (NJFAC), NJFAC Artists, The Foundation for Ethics and Meaning-NY, Humanist Movement-NY, The Employment Project, The ENDespair Project, Working Today. This was an opportunity to find useful resources, obtain information, discuss their views, share feelings, ask questions, get a new perspective and gain coping strategies.
  
  
• A sponsor of the Humanist Center of Cultures' Diversity Day in Queens, publicly rededicated ourselves to non-violence to resolve disputes, people before money, health education and quality of life as human rights, the right to participate in all political, economic and social decisions. Work Issues Group Discussions co-sponsored in by The Fourth Universalist Church, Congregation Tel Aviv and The Foundation for Ethics and Meaning-NY. The focus: our feelings, reactions, values and ethics, the organizational environment, the society in which we live. Our purpose: to share experiences, gain understanding, find alternatives, plan appropriate action (small steps we could easily achieve) to improve communication, ease stress, improve a particular situation and greater effectiveness.  A co-sponsor of "Re-Imagining Politics and Society at the Millennium," in March, in New York City (presented by NY Open Center, Foundation for Ethics and Meaning and Lapis Magazine).

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