Bengal
News West Reporters
In
the fall of 2015, Zakiyyah Wolford welcomed her second child. For most people
this is a joyous occasion. For Wolford however, a struggling single mother, it
was clouded with a veil of uncertainty as she found herself unable to continue
working.
“I
was a dietary aide at Erie County Medical Center working overnights and they
wouldn’t accommodate me on changing my shift,” Wolford said. “I asked them a
lot but they kept telling me there was nothing they could do. I just had a
brand-new baby and there was no one to watch him.”
For
the next three years she found herself unemployed.
Wolford’s
story is not uncommon. She and others like her are searching for jobs when many
employers simply aren't hiring. According to the State Labor Department,
Buffalo’s unemployment rate was at 4.9 percent this September. When jobs are
available, competition is high and it's important to separate yourself from the
next candidate.
716 Ministries,
301 14th St., is hoping to make that process a little easier with its Work
Readiness program. The
program consists of four weeks of intensive classes covering many topics such as
time management to how to deal with customers.
“We
cover team work, attitude, and a lot of really practical things,” said
Stephanie Bruno, one of the Work Readiness coordinators at 716 Ministries.
“Many times, the people who come into our program will have a GED or high
school diploma, but no further training. So, it’s difficult to find a job that
pays more than $10 an hour. We’re trying to provide them with a higher skill
set that can lead to a higher paying job.”
The
program runs every other month with classes limited to 10 people. Many students
come from the Goodwill and Salvation Army.
Christina Schweitzer, Salvation Army director
says that the Erie County
Department of Social Services refers people on public assistance to do
volunteer hours at the charities during their search for a permanent job. It
was through the Welfare-to-Work program that Zakiyyah Wolford learned about the
Work Readiness program.
“They
came to the Goodwill where I was assigned to do work and it seemed like it
would be fun,” Wolford said. “They took me on interviews and showed me how to
present a better resume. The finance training for me was really helpful because
I’m bad with money.”
Bruno
says this hands-on approach is what makes the program so successful.
“The
thing that really sets us apart is that we have one on one mentors for our
students,” Bruno said. “Over 70 percent of our graduates are working and I
believe it’s because we create a relationship time because they believe in it
and they see that lives are being impacted by this.”
Since
graduating from the program in March, Wolford keeps in contact with her mentor
to talk about the career progress she’s made.
“They
were willing to help me in any way. Even now we keep in touch, I talked to my
mentor the other day and we plan to get together and do lunch,” Wolford said.
Wolford
now has a full-time job at Home Depot. She says she owes it to the skills she
learned at Work Readiness. She hopes to see the program grow even bigger in the
future.
“If anyone out there needs a little extra push
they should sign up for this program,” Wolford said. “Keep an open mind and
just give it a chance because it could change your life. It changed my life for
the better.”
716
Ministries will be holding its next phase of job training through the Work
Readiness program in January.
