Goodwill Provides Jacksonville's Homeless With Options

"It is a misconception that most homeless people are unemployed. They do work, only it is not steady work with a steady income," says Jim Wadsworth, vice president of job training and development for Goodwill of North Florida, whose division administers the Options program of Vocational Services. "Our goal is to transition them from ‘getting by’ to being self-sufficient." Before the implementation of HUD’s award-winning Continuum of Care program, homeless services in Jacksonville, Florida, were adequate but additional services to address social problems related to homelessness were needed. Some city facilities offered emergency services—such as temporary shelter and food—to the homeless but often lacked the resources to provide vocational services. In 1994 government, community, and advocates in Jacksonville formed the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition to address problems related to homelessness. Its 30 members represent a wide range of agencies and individuals, including homeless shelters, support service providers, temporary employment organizations, businesses, and formerly homeless people. Recognizing that a comprehensive employment program was necessary if the majority of homeless clients were ever to move to self-sufficiency, coalition members asked Goodwill of North Florida, a longtime provider of vocational services, to develop a job-training program specifically to address the needs of homeless people. Building on its other vocational programs, Goodwill developed the Options program. Options is funded primarily by a supportive housing program grant from HUD. "Being unemployed is one thing," Wadsworth explains, "but when you add homelessness to it, the situation becomes very difficult. Work is very important in our society. If you don’t have a job, you are devalued. You are devalued even more if you are without a home. We want the emphasis to be on assisting people to do things for themselves." Jobs plus support. Goodwill designed Options on a work-first model to stress the importance of getting clients a job. "It is easier for them to get a better job once they are employed," says Wadsworth, who has worked with Goodwill Industries for 17 years and has 26 years of experience in the job-training field. Even transitional or temporary work allows clients to develop work habits and attitudes that enable them to advance to other positions. The goal of the Options program is to "provide easily accessible, individualized employment services to homeless people in Jacksonville." Knowing that a service must be accessible to be successful, Goodwill’s program provides onsite assessment and job-search support at homeless shelters and other residential and outreach facilities. Employment counselors from the Options program work at facilities throughout the city to provide assessment services, help clients develop individualized employment plans, and monitor progress in achieving employment goals. Staff at emergency shelters, transitional housing, and residential facilities—as well as organizations that serve substance abusers, mentally ill people, and single mothers transitioning from welfare to work—may refer clients to Options. During an initial meeting, Options employment counselors determine work-related needs, job skills and readiness, and work preferences. Following an initial assessment, the counselor and client prepare an individual employment plan outlining both short-term and long-term training and employment goals. The counselor then works with the client to identify job leads. Once a client becomes employed, Options provides followup services and tracks clients’ progress for a year. Although the typical Options client is a single man, the number of women with children is increasing. During the first 10 months of 1999, the program served 1,184 individuals. Of those, 721 found employment, and about half of them stayed at these positions for more than 90 days—the critical period during which people are most likely to leave a job. Overcoming barriers. "Working with this population in not unlike working with other unemployed persons, except that the homeless face additional barriers," says Wadsworth. Even in today’s thriving economy in which employers are desperately looking for employees, Wadsworth believes programs like Options are still necessary. "People who are homeless do not have the same access or networks that we use to find work. They often don’t even know where to start looking for a job." Homeless people often face the additional barriers of lacking access to computers to prepare résumés, telephones for callbacks, transportation to job interviews, and appropriate clothing for interviews or work. Goodwill thrift stores honor Options clothing vouchers. To overcome the limited public transportation system in Jacksonville, Options staff try to ensure that 80 percent of the jobs they list are within a block of a bus stop. Employers not close to public transportation are developing strategies to provide transportation for their employees. One local hotel uses its shuttle vans, which usually serve only hotel guests, to transport employees to and from a bus stop. Employees are in demand in Jacksonville’s tight job market, which has an unemployment rate of less than 3 percent. Employers are working closely with Goodwill to attract and retain employees referred through the organization’s programs, including Options. Goodwill’s six Job Junction center—run in partnership with community-based organizations—offer job-search assistance and placement to participants in all of Goodwill’s job training programs and the community at large. (Goodwill also operates vocational programs for people with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities; persons with substance abuse problems; and Welfare to Work participants.) At the one-stop Job Junction centers, clients attend employment counseling sessions and training classes. Job Junction computers have résumé software and staff who will help clients write résumés. Clients can use the centers’ phones and fax machines to call prospective employers and send out résumés. The centers’ job listings are updated daily. Each Job Junction also has a "hello" line that clients can use to receive incoming calls from prospective employers. The line is answered with a simple "hello" so employers think they are calling a home rather than a homeless assistance facility. Wadsworth has related a few of Options’ success stories: A man with some carpentry experience arrived at a shelter and became an Options participant. He enrolled in a carpentry apprentice program to further develop his skills to get a job. He needed tools and a toolbox but could not afford to purchase them; Goodwill bought these items for him. He completed the apprentice program, found a full-time position, and has moved from a shelter to supportive housing. A woman from another state and her adult daughter arrived at a Jacksonville shelter. They received job training as well as a personal budgeting class. Within 2 months, they both had jobs and had saved enough money to get their own apartment close to the bank where they are both employed full-time. One homeless man had a job offer with a major van line contingent on his taking a training course. The employer was willing to pay for the course but not his travel to the out-of-state training facility. Goodwill paid for his round-trip airline ticket. The man successfully completed the course, and is still working with the company. Through its employment programs, Goodwill of North Florida served more than 3,300 jobseekers through October 1999. With seven centers in operation by April 2000, Wadsworth expects to serve more than 8,000 individuals this year, about 600 of them homeless people. For more information, contact: Valerie Baham, Program Manager/Options, Goodwill of North Florida, 4527 Lenox Avenue, Jacksonville, FL 32205, (904) 384-1361, extension 223. Or see: What Works! Job Strategies for Homeless People, video training package, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Community Planning and Development, Office of Special Needs. Award Recognizes HUD's Continuum of Care Approach Continuum of Care, HUD's homelessness assistance program, was recently named 1 of 10 winners of the Innovations in American Government Awards given by the Ford Foundation. The program restructures the relationship among federal, state, and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and other community stakeholders by engaging citizens in a common planning process. Continuum of Care has helped thousands of homeless individuals and families make the difficult transition from the streets and shelters to jobs, residential stability, and more secure lives. Previous               Contents                 Next