Programs at the Hub
If you are interested in any of our programs, please fill out our interest form here.
Or if you are interested in joining us for an info session please click here.
Job Placement Assistance
Do you need assistance in finding a job or advancing your career? Are you looking to enter or reenter the workforce? We can help! We offer free job placement assistance to participants in search of employment or who are interested in making a career move.
Participants will learn marketable skills that create long-term careers and can choose amongst the following services:
- Job placement assistance
- Work readiness skills training
- Career counseling
- Networking skills training
- Job Clubs
- Digital Literacy Classes
Individuals may also be eligible for full scholarships towards vocational training in Allied Health, Culinary Arts, Information Technology and Security Guard.
For more information or to register please contact our intake team by emailing [email protected] or calling 718-268-5057.
The Commonpoint Queens Adult Workforce Services program works with local employers and staffing agencies to advertise their open job opportunities and refer candidates to them. Click here to see what opportunities are currently available.
FREE Tax Prep Assistance
Community members can schedule appointments by emailing [email protected]
Our Free Tax Assistance program is only available during tax season, which is typically held between January and April 15th.
Vocational Training
Our vocational training programs are offered to eligible adults and out of school youth on a scholarship basis. All interested applicants must apply for the vocational training scholarships in order to enroll for a training.
You can sign up to join us for a mandatory info session to learn more about the enrollment process and our program by clicking here.
Our training programs assist each participant in developing the skills needed to make them marketable in a competitive job field.
Program participants have the opportunity to become certified in any of the following occupational trainings:
- Healthcare Occupation:
- Home Health Aide
- Certified Nurse’s Aide
- Patient Care Technician (includes CNA, EKG & Phlebotomy)
- Pharmacy Technician
- Certified Medical Administrative Assistant
- Bilingual Community Health Program
- Culinary Arts Training – SafeServ Certification and New York City Food Handlers Certification
- Information Technology – Network Support, Web Development, Aw/S Start, Cybersecurity
- Security Guard Certification & Licensing
Upon completion of their vocational training, participants may be eligible for paid internships, job placement assistance, and are supported in pursuing their higher education goals.
All training participants must be:
- 18 years or older
- Eligible to work in the United States
- Highly motivated to work in the field they are training for
- Have a High School or High School Equivalency Diploma
- Have an updated resume
- Be a resident of New York State
Anyone interested in applying for a vocational training scholarship must first attending a virtual information session. You can sign up for an info session by clicking here.
If you have any questions about our vocational training programs, please email [email protected].
Current offerings include:
Culinary Training and Job Placement Program
The Culinary Job Training program at the Commonpoint Queens Employment Hub is a 12-week FREE program that prepares adults facing barriers to employment for secure and stable careers.
Our program provides critical culinary and professional skills students need to thrive in the food service industry:
- Culinary Arts Training: Students learn fundamental culinary techniques in our commercial kitchen. Their daily, hands-on food production helps feed those in need in the Queens community.
- ServSafe® certification: This national food safety training confirms to prospective employers that our graduates understand the requirements of safe food preparation.
- Career-Readiness Training: Job-skills and career-readiness training is included to enable long term success and adjustment to the professional kitchen.
- Internships and Job Placement: The Hub helps graduates find real-world internships and employment opportunities in the food industry.
For more information please contact Sabrina Sexton, Director of Culinary, at [email protected]
IT Training and Job Placement
Commonpoint Queens has partnered with Per Scholas to offer Information Technology (IT) Training and Job Placement programs at the Commonpoint Queens Employment Hub. We offer 12 and 15 week FREE programs that prepares adults facing barriers to employment for secure and stable careers. These programs are held Monday – Friday from 9am to 5pm.
Our next cohort of Cybersecurity classes begins November 28, 2022 – click here and contact [email protected] for more information!
Our program provides critical IT and professional skills students need to thrive in the information technology industry:
- AWS re/Start: Through real-world, scenario-based learning, labs, and coursework, learners gain the skills they need for an entry-level cloud role and complete AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner training.
- Cybersecurity: Cybersecurity offers the opportunity to earn the CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst Certification (CYSA+), equipping you with fundamental concepts in security specialties and hands-on training to enter this ever growing field as a cybersecurity analyst. Our next cohort of Cybersecurity classes begins November 28, 2022 – click here and contact [email protected] for more information!
- Network Support: Network Support offers the opportunity to earn the Google IT Support Professional Certificate along with the CompTIA A+ and Net+ certifications, equipping you with the knowledge to fill a wide range of entry-level technology jobs.
- Software Engineer: Software Engineer prepares you for the tech industry as an adept developer with a ready-to-present professional portfolio to share with potential employers and start your career in Web Development, App Development, and many more.
For more information please contact Fadia Mohama at [email protected]
Allied Health Training and Job Placement Program
The Allied Health Training and Job Placement program through the Commonpoint Queens Employment Hub offers FREE programs that prepares adults facing barriers to employment for secure and stable careers. Programs are currently held at the Access Institute in Kew Gardens or virtually.
Our programs provide critical healthcare and professional skills students need to thrive in the allied health industry.
- Patient Care Technician: Patient Care Technicians (PCT) combine the role of a Certified Nurses’ Aides (CNA) and that of an echocardiogram and phlebotomy technician. PCTs work alongside patients to take care of and assist in basic needs that include feeding and meals, hygiene, and other daily functions.
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA): A Certified Nursing Assistant provides assistance to patients with daily living tasks and is responsible for basic care services.
- Pharmacy Technician: The Pharmacy Technician, also called a Pharmacy Tech or Pharmacy Assistant, usually performs routine tasks to help prepare prescribed medication for patients, such as counting tablets and labeling bottles.
- Certified Medical Administrative Assistant (CMAA): Offered in partnership with LaGuardia Community College. Administrative medical assistants perform clerical work in doctors’ and hospital offices. It is their responsibility to keep all patient files organized and to maintain the front office.
For more information, please email [email protected] or call 718-268-5057, or to apply for the program please click here.
Security Guard Training and Job Placement Program
We are offering 8 hour and 16 hour security guard training courses that offer licensing and job placement.
Participants must be:
- 18 years or older
- Eligible to work in the United States
- Interested to work as a Security Guard
- Have a High School or High School Equivalency Diploma
- Have an updated resume
- Be a resident of New York State
If you are interested in applying, please email [email protected] or call 718-268-5057.
Bilingual Community Healthcare Worker Training and Job Placement Program
We are now accepting applicants for our Bilingual Community Health Worker Training Program with LaGuardia Community College!
To be eligible for this program, you must be a non-native English speaker who is interested in improving English proficiency for a career in public health, as well as authorized to work in the U.S.
To learn more and apply for the program, please email [email protected].
Vocational Training Freelance Training
New this year, we are now offering a training that will provide you with the entrepreneurship skills training needed to become an independent freelance worker. Independent work offers people the opportunity to earn supplemental income, practice newly developed professional skills, build work experience, and design a flexible work schedule that meets their needs. Students learn how to find freelance work through online platforms, create a great online work profile, market themselves and develop a personal branding utilizing social media, provide great customer service, create contracts, manage their finances and taxes, and much more.
For more information please email [email protected] or call 718-268-5057.
Work Supports Program
Our Work Supports Programs provide free, comprehensive enrollment assistance and referrals for a variety of services and needs, including:
- SNAP (food stamps): enrollment, recertification, and mediation
- Food Pantry: Commonpoint Queens provides a client-choice pantry to the community
- Medicaid and other health insurance program: enrollment assistance
- Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP): referrals for enrollment
- Legal counseling referrals
- Financial Counseling Clients with other needs are encouraged to contact us for assistance; we are happy to identify other resources based on the needs of our community.
For more information about the Work Supports Programs, please contact Jose Irizarry, Coordinator, Work Supports Programs at (718) 268-5057 ext 108 or [email protected]
Food Pantry
No one should ever go hungry. We can help. The Commonpoint Queens Digital Food Pantry, which has locations in Little Neck (Tanenbaum Family Pool), Forest Hills (Central Queens), Elmhurst (the Hub), and Queens Village (Martin Van Buren High School) offers kosher fresh produce and non-perishable goods for the greater Queens community. After an intake, clients are registered into a digital database, allowing them to log on to the system from home or from one of our in-house kiosks, and order their personalized monthly food selections which will then be prepared and ready to be picked up within minutes.
Client intakes and orders are processed Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Hours for each location are the following:
Forest Hills:
Monday – 11am-2pm & 3pm-6:30pm
Tuesday – 9am-2pm
Wednesday – 9am-2pm & 3pm-6:30pm
Thursday – 9am-2pm
Friday – 9am-2pm
*NEW Sunday Hours: 10am-2pm (beginning July 11th)
Little Neck:
Monday-Friday – 9am-12pm
Elmhurst:
Monday-Friday – Walk-in hours 10am-3pm
Queens Village:
Tuesday-Thursday – 9am-2:30pm
For upcoming distribution dates and to become a client of our food pantry, please contact Susan Meza, Director of Food Programs at [email protected].
ESOL Classes — English for Speakers of Other Languages
Want to learn English? Beginner, intermediate, and advanced classes will be held virtually beginning in May. For more information about enrolling into the ESOL program please contact Martha Zambrano, ESOL Instructor at [email protected].
Digital Literacy Classes
The goal of our Digital Literacy classes is to teach basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life, and thereby develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families and their communities. Participants will have an opportunity to improve their skills in using Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to edit or draft professional documents. They will practice using social media, such as LinkedIn or Facebook, to network and develop a professional brand.
Join us for 4-Day Digital Skills Bootcamps! Programs will be held Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 10am-12:30pm. Tambien ofrecemos este programa en español lunes, martes, miercoles, y jueves 2pm-4:30pm.
For more information about the Digital Literacy Classes, please contact Older Vera at [email protected] or call 619-630-8904.
Opportunity Youth
The term Opportunity Youth refers to those between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither in school nor working. This may be due to a variety of reasons- including barriers such as homelessness, pregnancy or parenting, or involvement with the juvenile justice or child welfare systems. The negative effects of this disconnection are ongoing, resulting in lower incomes, higher unemployment rates, and negative physical and mental health outcomes. Young adults who are not in school or working represent untapped potential, or opportunity, for our nation.
We offer a comprehensive High School Equivalency program to help out of school young adults get back on the right track. We also offer medical certification programs for high school graduates who are not in college/have a college degree and are unemployed. All of our Opportunity Youth Programs provide either a stipend or paid internships and career readiness classes to prepare our participants to enter the workforce.
Programs include:
Advance & Earn
Advance & Earn is a program for young people between the ages of 16-24 who are not currently working or attending school and live in any of the 5 boroughs of New York City. We offer High School Equivalency Programs with Pre-HSE and HSE classes, as well as Advanced Training Programs for those with a high school diploma or equivalent with high-demand certifications in the medical field such as EKG/Phlebotomy Tech, Certified Nurse Aide, and Clinical Medical Administrative Assistant.
Eligibility requirements include:
- Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 years old
- Residents of one of the five boroughs of New York City
- Currently not working or in school
- Willing to commit six months to the program
- Legally authorized to work in New York City
New for Winter 2023, programs will be held at:
Commonpoint Queens Youth Opportunity Hub
82-41 Parsons Boulevard
Jamaica, NY 11432
804 E. 138th Street
Bronx, NY 10454
Click here to learn more!
Train & Earn
Train & Earn (formerly the Out-of-School Youth Program) is a career pathways program that provides comprehensive job training and employment services, along with support services needed by participants to find a permanent job, obtain their high school equivalency if applicable, and access postsecondary education and training. Train & Earn is for youth and young adults aged 16–24, who are not working and not in school, and meet certain eligibility requirements.
Eligibility requirements include:
- Young people between the ages of 16 and 24 years old
- Residents of one of the five boroughs of New York City
- Currently not working or in school
- Must meet income and other eligibility criteria
- Reside in NYCHA or high poverty area
- Pregnant or parenting
- Currently or formerly received foster care services
- Currently or formerly court involved
- Homeless/Runaway
- Receive SNAP or other public assistance
- Have a disability
- Had an IEP in High School or Middle School
- Must be a New York City resident
- For Train and Earn medical certification programs offered through the Opportunity Youth Programs at Commonpoint Queens, all applicants must have a high school diploma or equivalent and be 18 years of age.
Click here to learn more!
To participate in this program, please fill out our eligibility form and we will contact you. For more information, contact Kelly McArdle at [email protected]