1. Educating for Careers in Ever-changing Job Market
   By Tom Trzos - St. Vincent de Paul Village
2. Residents Regain Sobriety, Health and New Life
   By Martha Lepore
3. St. Vincent’s Wins Award for Innovative Therapeutic Childcare Program
4. TAS Team Alters Delivery of Client Services
   By Michael Palagonia
5. A ‘Light’ for ALL
   By Michael Wall - Director of Planned Giving

Educating for Careers in Ever-changing Job Market
By Tom Trzos - St. Vincent de Paul Village

The “continuum of care” concept for homeless rehabilitation at St. Vincent de Paul Village integrates a vast array of services to help neighbors in need become self-reliant and independent. Among them is an employment program to meet the many new challenges facing our residents in the ever-changing job market.

Today’s employers require candidates to have on-the-job experience and specific knowledge, skills, and abilities through vocational training and higher education. The Career & Education Center (CEC) has recognized and addressed these employer needs through its Transitional Employment Program (TEP), which aligns an educational path to a career path. In TEP, work experience is coupled to vocational training and academic education through formalized classes designed specifically to the needs of each participant.

Resources available through the CEC include: adult education classes for basic skill training, work readiness classes for life skills training, career exploration classes for vocational assessment, vocational classes for career-directed training, technical classes in computer office systems, certificate classes in vocational and technical disciplines, and higher education classes for system skills.

The first phase of TEP places the client in an entry-level position that reflects the client's interests, skills, and career pursuit. The second phase is the transition into a (better) job based upon a predetermined education and training program designed by the employer, agency, and client. The third and final phase of the program transitions the client into a career position after accomplishing specific training at the employer’s business, while pursuing and receiving higher education and training outside the workplace.

One of the misnomers about the transitional employment program is that it applies only to individuals who do not have education, training, and/or work experience. This is far from the truth. TEP applies to any individual whether an unskilled day laborer or a university graduate, it is designed to work with an individual’s current interests, knowledge, skills, and abilities. Career counselors meet with every client in one-on-one meetings to develop individual employment plans. 

The Career & Education Center recognizes that “continuum of care” is not just an ideal at St. Vincent de Paul Village, but an ongoing effort to meet the needs of employers, communities, and residents. TEP is a partnership driven by the notion that success breeds success, that a first job leads to a better job that eventually leads to a career. N

Members of the Career & Education Center who work with clients in the transitional employment program.

Career Counselors:

Heidi Dang
Tana Lambert
Jessica Luu
Anton Williams

Instructors:

John Guinn
Michael Palagonia
Michael Patton
Robert Ruiz
Lashon Wiggins

Job Developer:

Frank Scott

Administrative Staff:

Stephen Confer, program manager
Jack Yang, program supervisor
Michael Franceschina, program supervisor