wfn.org | New program meets needs of unemployed, employers

[JDL@MennoniteCC.ca]

August 23, 1996
Mennonite Central Committee Canada
John Longhurst, MCCC Communications
(204) 261-6381
JDL@Mennonitecc.ca

NEW PROGRAM MEETS NEEDS OF UNEMPLOYED AND EMPLOYERS

WINNIPEG, Man. -- A new training and job placement program 
launched earlier this year in Winnipeg is meeting the needs of the 
unemployed and employers.
      James Theissen, 32, was one of the first participants to 
find work through Opportunities for Employment, a two-year pilot 
project designed to help people in Winnipeg make the transition from 
welfare to work.
      Theissen, who is married and has a six-year-old son, had 
been on social assistance for five years. When he couldn't find 
steady employment, he tried self-employment.
      "That didn't pan out either," says Theissen, who has work 
experience in maintenance, carpentry and mechanics. He applied for 
social assistance as a temporary means of covering his basic costs of 
living but was forced to stay on welfare for five years.
      "When you've been out of the work force for a while it is 
hard to get a job," he explains. "It's depressing - very depressing. 
You can send out 100 resumes and get two phone calls. If you are 
lucky enough to get a phone call you hear you are not qualified, you 
have too many qualifications or you are the wrong age group. You get 
knocked down so many times, after a while you don't feel good about 
yourself anymore."
      Things changed for him in June when his social worker 
referred him to the Opportunities for Employment program - a program 
started in March by Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) Manitoba, 
Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) and Trainex Centre, 
a division of Eden Health Care Services based in Winkler.
      The day after completing the program's five-day orientation, he 
got a job at Winnipeg's Palliser Furniture. 
     "I feel good about myself," says Theissen. "I come home happy 
and tired. I'm glad to be working again. Before I felt like a bum - I 
knew I wasn't a bum but it is a label other people put on you when 
you aren't working."
      John Wiebe, general manager of Opportunities for 
Employment, says the four-member staff is meetings its objectives to 
find jobs for about 10 people a month. By mid-August the agency had 
placed 36 people - two placements were unsuccessful. In subsequent 
years the number of placements is expected to increase to 250 a year.
      The Province of Manitoba will reimburse the agency for 
costs related to job placements when the employee has held a job for 
six months. The first payments will be made at the end of the year.
      Opportunities for Employment is based on models used by 
Trainex Centre and a U.S. program called America Works. The processes 
are continually being monitored and adapted to ensure that the 
program is meeting the needs of the unemployed and the employers, 
explains Wiebe.
      The program begins with a five-day intensive orientation 
that includes an assessment of skills, job preparation training, tour 
of potential workplace and if necessary, referrals to other agencies 
for more training. It also includes a one-year follow-up and support 
for new employees.
      "We hear the expression that there are no jobs," Wiebe 
says. "It is a tough job market but there are some jobs out there. We 
can help put people to work."
      A more difficult task than finding jobs for applicants is 
helping them keep their jobs. "We make sure they understand the 
employer's expectations before they take a job," he explains. "They 
get a tour of the place and we ask them, `Is this where you want to 
work?'"
      Art DeFehr, owner of Palliser Furniture, says he supports 
the program because the screening, assessment and follow-up support 
makes it easier for employers to work together collectively at 
providing jobs for people who have a poor record of employment.
      "People who are capable of working need jobs," he says, 
adding jobs give individuals stability and dignity.
      The application rate from social assistance recipients is 
high. Wiebe says his agency had 80 inquiries before the staff was 
hired in mid-April.
      Theissen says he didn't know what to expect when his social 
worker referred him to Opportunities for Employment. During his five-
day orientation he identified some of his barriers to finding work. 
Five years of unemployment had resulted in the loss of motivation, 
self esteem, assertiveness and confidence.  "`Never mind what 
happened before - before is before - this is now,'" Theissen says his 
instructors told him, adding that they helped him regain confidence 
and self esteem. 
      A major difference between this program and other job 
placement programs is the assistance that is available to help people 
find jobs, says Theissen. "They say, you will be looking and we will 
be looking for you," he says.

                                     -30-

Gladys Terichow, MCC Manitoba Communications

John Longhurst, MCC Communications
JDL@MennoniteCC.CA
Visit our World Wide Web site at http://www.mennonitecc.ca/mcc