?Experience Works? places retirees and seniors into work force

Let?s face it ? a large number of people who are at retirement age are no longer dreaming of palm trees and retirement communities once they leave the job they have had for the past thirty years or so. It is not unusual for a retiree to seek out a new profession after years of service. Many senior citizens who have surpassed the retirement age are also out looking for a more meaningful and financially feasible way to spend their days.

Experience Works, a national community-based organization, is in the business of putting retirees and senior citizens back into the work force, enriching lives, and providing new training to guarantee success.

Julie Kersey, the employment and training coordinator of the northern Michigan region of Experience Works, believes her organization works because it focuses on improving lives through sustainable employment.

?SOME PEOPLE find they can?t make ends meet, and they have a need to work, and are still able to work,? said Kersey. ?Sometimes by being employed you feel you are contributing ? that you are doing something for your community.?

Experience Works planted its roots in 1965 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Nelson Amendment to the Economic Opportunity Act, which was part of his ?war on poverty? stance. The act funded ?Green Thumb, Inc.,? which is now known as Experience Works.

Lady Bird Johnson took a personal interest in Green Thumb, and she helped the initiative push forward. The original goal of Green Thumb was to provide retired farmers with useful employment. Green Thumb was eventually launched as the first non-profit organization created to run an employment program for rural Americans.

Experience Works, under the Department of Labor?s Employment and Training Administration, continues to push toward the goal of employing Americans in need.

?People who are 55 and older, who are employable, but unemployed, and who make under a certain income per year would qualify for our program,? said Kersey. ?We put people into host agencies, such as senior citizen centers, law enforcement agencies, and salvation armies, and provide them with on-the-job training in areas such as office work, computers, kitchen duties, janitorial work, and maintenance.?

Kersey said each participant?s training is geared toward an area of the work force that would best suit his/her interests and skills. After determining where the participant?s interests are, Experience Works finds a host agency to ?employ? that person and provide training. The participant is paid for the training through Experience Works.

?WE TRAIN them for a particular job, and then we find them employment within that same field of work,? said Kersey. ?It?s really to the participant?s benefit ? to get a ?real? job with a real income ? this comes with the opportunity to acquire benefits from their future employer.?

The training process requires the participant to work 15 hours per week at minimum wage for six months or longer. The next step in the process is an extensive job search guided by Experience Works. Once the participant is employed, their progress is followed by Experience Works for 13 months.

?This is a long term commitment by Experience Works,? said Kersey. ?We want to make sure the participants are successfully employed, and once they are placed in a job, it really is a success story. There are a lot of people out there who could really use our services, and?there?s a lot to our program. It has helped a lot of people, and the host agencies have been very pleased with our participants.?

It?s not only retirees who are looking for gainful employment. Just recently, Experience Works placed 87-year-old Wilma Pomroy of Alpena as a trainee at the Presque Isle County Council on Aging in Posen.

?Wilma was so anxious and ready to work again,? said Kersey. ?She just began and is doing well.?

GEORGE FRENCH of Onaway is an Experience Works trainee placed at the Presque Isle County Council on Aging in Onaway.

Kersey said that because of his employment opportunity, French has been able to put enough money aside to move closer to town, enabling him to get around better. French said his goal, as a participant in the Experience Wo

rks program, is to obtain better employment and in turn, live an independent life.

?My training has helped me learn about food proportions, and how to cook for the elderly,? said French. ?I?ve learned how to take the needs of the elderly into consideration, and I?m hoping the job will train me to the point where I can get a better job.? Kersey said she has witnessed some amazing changes in people who participate in Experience Works.

?I?ve seen some people come in without any self confidence,? said Kersey. ?After being involved with our training and getting a job, they open up just like a rose.?

For more information on how to participate in the program, or to become a host agency, call Kersey at (989) 732-6589 or visit www.experienceworks.org.

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