Programs-Workforce Development

Workforce Development:
Helping Homeless and Formerly Homeless Adults Prepare for Living-Wage Jobs

As part of our mission to ensure that homeless and formerly homeless adults achieve stable lives and avoid a return to homelessness, The Partnership integrates workforce development services into the
continuum of care provided to clients.

Although some Partnership clients are unable to work because of advanced age or disability, many are eager to enter the workforce but lack the education, skills, and confidence necessary to secure and keep a living-wage job.

At the Family Resource Center, the Next Step employment counselor develops an individual employment plan with all interested parents. For most, the first step involves enrolling in a GED or basic adult education program so they acquire the skills the need to enter a job training program. The employment counselor helps each client to determine what kind of work they would like to do and to understand what level of preparation is needed to enter their chosen field. To ensure that mothers can participate regularly, the employment counselor and case managers work one-on-one with clients to help mothers secure child care for pre-school children and after-school programs for school-age children. The employment counselor offers a series of soft skills workshops on resume writing, interviewing skills, interpersonal relations, good work habits, and job search skills.

Older clients are able to participate in the Senior AIDES Program, where they hold subsidized jobs in the non-profit and public sectors as they gain experience to move into permanent employment.

HIV/AIDS Services & Prevention clients work with their case managers to secure access to GED and job training programs and can take advantage of The Partnership’s Computer Center to hone their technology skills, send resumes via e-mail, and conduct Internet job searches. Over the years, many clients have become Peer Educators, receiving a monthly stipend and learning valuable work skills. Twenty-two people currently participate as Peer Educators, conducting HIV Prevention workshops, leading support groups, and participating in mobile street outreach.

Many of our clients have become employees of The Partnership. A number of Peer Educators have gone on to become case managers at The Partnership and other social service agencies, and Peter’s Place and Furnish a Future regularly employ former clients.