Last week I wrote about the Westerly Jonnycake Center: a plain building just across the train tracks from downtown Westerly that is a jack-pot for cast-off goods, well-organized anew and sold for cheap. The profits of the thrift store are used for the Jonnycake Center’s food pantry, farmer’s market, and many other helpful programs for Southern Rhode Islanders. One such program is a relatively new addition to the Center: the Real Jobs Partnerships program.
The goal of this program is to train and prepare unemployed or underemployed Rhode Islanders for work they are excited about. About twenty applicants per semester are accepted and then welcomed into the program, which they are to treat as a job for the next six to ten weeks. Monday through Friday the students file in, coffees in hand, dressed in business casual, to learn about necessary business practices.
From business attire to financial literacy, TIPS certification for service-industry work, customer service skills, phone skills, and computer programs Excel, Powerpoint and the whole Outlook suite, the students are guided through lessons meant to help them feel familiar and comfortable with skills needed in most jobs. Students without a bank account are guided in how to procure one.
They write resumes, hold mock interviews, and graduate Outlook certified- computer knowledge which is considered a necessity by a huge percentage of jobs. Many of the skills taught were added to the classes using feedback from employer-partners of the program. These are the businesses that give internships to the students, some internships becoming jobs.
A generous weekly stipend is paid to the students throughout the course, and at the end of the semester comes the paid internship at a local business. The Center’s hope is that these internships will turn into jobs, but even if not, the course and the internship provide real world experience, new skills, and something for the resume which shows potential employers that this candidate is serious.
The Real Jobs program began in January 2016 and graduated 37 students in two semesters. This year, the center is planning to triple the number of graduates.
Driving past this thrift-store, you would never guess at all the treasures inside. Or the possibilities that may come from a visit- for yourself, or those your purchases would help. For more info, visit the Westerly Jonnycake Center on facebook!
