Community News

Boost for Job-Seekers in the Wake of the COVID Pandemic

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June 8, 2020

By Robert Kimmel —

Job training plus work application support, in parts of the County, will be getting helpful sponsorship as the result of two $100,000 grants awarded by the Westchester Workforce Funders Collaborative, a philanthropic, pooled fund managed by the Westchester Community Foundation.

The grants to Westchester Community College and Westhab, an affordable housing developer, will “support skills-based training in health-care management and construction trades,” as announced by the Foundation. Despite the negative repercussions on employment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there are available jobs in those sectors, which “will lead to well-paying careers,” the Foundation states.

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“At Westchester Community Foundation, we don’t shy away from challenges,” says Laura Rossi, its Executive Director. “While these grants were awarded after several years of preparation, they mark the start of a recovery effort that will grow in importance in the years ahead,” predicts Rossi. “Westchester residents are ready to get back to work, and employers are ready to hire them.”

In addition to training job seekers for the necessary skills in the two occupations, upon successfully completing their training, the participants will be guaranteed job interviews. Eligible residents from Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle are sought for the programs.

Directed at workforce development, planning for the program began last summer, says Rossi. With so much unemployment now, she says, the grants couldn’t come at a better time. As for what Westchester Community College and Westhab will be offering, Rossi describes them as “good programs, well put together,” with a good partnership between the two trainers and potential employers. “They will help people get on the economic ladder, and provide for their families,” she says.

The Westchester Community College program will have two recruited groups, each consisting of 20 persons, participate in an 11-week “boot camp for healthcare occupations.” Graduates of that endeavor “will have a four-week externship, a job shadowing experience at Montefiore hospital or health-care facility, and an opportunity to interview with employer partners Burke Rehabilitation Hospital, Montefiore Medical Center and Wartburg, a senior living and nursing home,” the Foundation explains.

The College’s Division of Workforce Development and Community Education manages its Healthcare Career Pathways Network initiative. “Our goal is to prepare individuals to enter in-demand jobs that lead to long-term self-sufficiency, and set them on meaningful career pathways,” states the Division’s Vice President, Teresita Wisell. ”Westchester Community College is proud to be one of two grant awardees from the Westchester Workforce Funders Collaborative,” she stressed.

For the grant project, the Division will work with its training partner, Ladders to Value WIO/1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds. That group will “…contribute to the training byinforming and reviewing curriculum, and providing guest speakers/facilitators during the training period, Wisell says.”

In addition to the healthcare category, the College Division provides training and certification programs for other industries, which Wisell describes as “high demand occupations. Westchester Community College also offers certificates and degrees in programs specifically designed for entry into middle skill jobs, those jobs that require more than a high school diploma but less than a bachelor’s degree and make up the majority of job openings in our region,” she notes.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the environment in which we deliver workforce training,” Wisell relates. Her division, “has risen to the challenge required to continue to provide training opportunities to our community,” she asserts. “Despite the fact that the current environment is much different than when we developed and submitted the Healthcare Career Pathways proposal, we are confident that the project can move forward with the necessary modifications.” ‘”

“Partners are willing to offer services remotely, change the order in which the components of the program are delivered, if necessary and, foresee all in person opportunities, including externships, to proceed as planned, as soon as health and safety allow,” Wisell states. “Hiring partners remain committed to interview qualified candidates for employment. Now, more than ever, innovation and rapid response are essential, particularly to those most vulnerable populations who are bearing the burden of isolation, loss of employment and limited access to resources,” she concludes.

Grant recipient Westhab, is the large, non-profit, affordable housing developer in the county whichalso provides services for homeless and low-income families. It will be offering 90 candidates “the opportunity to prepare for construction careers through a multi-phase approach and earn industry-recognized certifications and advanced training once employed.”

“It is very exciting to be targeted in this effort,” states Westhab’s President and CEO, Richard Nightingale. “We have the job training capacity. We operate community training centers throughout Westchester, and a first source referral center in partnership with New Rochelle to help local residents get into jobs, and we also run our own employment centers in Mt. Vernon and in Yonkers,” says Nightingale.

“Certainly, with COVID-19, you have folks that are displaced from work, or who have been laid off or who have been furloughed. And honestly, this is a great time to help give people a new career,” Nightingale maintains. The 90 participants will have hiring interviews with Westhab’s employer associates, L+M Development Partners and Queen City Recycling Center & FDL Management, Corp. He describes the initial Westhab training as offering “soft skills,” preparing people for the work, and that the technical skills are learned on the job.

As for dealing with the lingering effects of the pandemic, Nightingale says “Even if the training is virtual, the jobs will still be here. Construction is one of the first industries to return to work and affordable housing has been authorized by the State all the way through the pandemic.”

Working with the Westchester Community Foundation’s grant funding, Nightingale says is “going to be a success story, helping to get our student participants back to work and taking care of their families.”

By backing the two grants, The Workforce Funder Collaborative is furthering its aim, which is described as “creating a more effective workforce development system in Westchester and Putnam Counties.” Member partners, in addition to the Westchester Community Foundation, include: CIT Group, JPMorgan Chase & Co., MVP Health Care, TD Charitable Foundation, and The Patrina Foundation.

Westchester Community Foundation’s Rossi explains it clearly in defining her organization’s purpose: “The mission is to help the community. That is what we are doing.” Last year, it awarded 72 grants to a variety of organizations and purposes, ranging from $73,000 to the Foundation for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns, to $2,500 for the League of Women Voters of Westchester Education Foundation.

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