HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT THESE FREE TRAINING PROGRAMS?

(Article published in HWW April 2006)

STEPS (for Support for Training & Educational Program Services), at 1325 Fifth Avenue in East Harlem makes a point of meeting students where they are at that moment. People who are "job ready" are given counseling and set up with jobs or job training. Others not quite up to taking a job are placed in a 15-week readiness program that usually includes basic education or GED classes.

Many young students are ex offenders in drug rehab programs. "They want jobs right away but most don’t have job skills to keep a job, especially the young ones," says Virginia Kwarta, Executive Director of STEPS. "Most haven’t worked before. They don’t know where they belong in this world. Our approach is to give them some skills, some education." For some, that education may include parenting and family literacy.

Most STEPS students are young, but not all. John Chapman, age 58, and homeless at one time, joined STEPS when he realized he needed a GED to get ahead. "I’ve worked in security. I was a building superintendent. I have electrical skills. I’m computer literate. And I’ve been out of a job since March ‘05. I discovered I needed a high school degree in order to get a promotion and I went on-line to find a good free GED prep course, and found STEPS. It’s something I’ve been chasing for a long time, but things kept getting in the way. Then this opportunity came up. I was so elated."

For more information about STEPS, Inc., call 212 831 9080.

AT THE STANLEY M. ISAACS NEIGHBORHOOD CENTER, 415 E. 93rd St., two youth employment programs are offering free job preparation and placement to men and women, ages 17 to 24. For young people who are ready and eager to move quickly into a job, there is a 5-week program of training. Also there’s a 10 week program that includes a 2-week internship, office skills training, and a $200 stipend on graduation.

A special feature of the programs: Students can receive customer service training and receive a certificate from the National Retail Foundation that demonstrates their qualification to work in retail trade.

For more information, call l 212 360-7625 and ask for Lynn Simon x 40, Carol Crawford x 24, or Matthew Gabel, x19.