By BRIAN BREHM The Winchester Star Jan 27,
2020
WINCHESTER — People age 55 and over can offer employers a wealth of
knowledge and experience, but that doesn’t really matter if they can’t get
hired.
Losing a steady paycheck means many older
workers are one crisis away from financial ruin, because all it takes is one
hospitalization or home repair to wipe out their savings, if they had any to
start with.
For almost two years, the National Council on
Aging’s Senior Community Service Employment
Program (SCSEP) in Winchester has been helping unemployed
adults age 55 and older re-enter the workforce and regain their financial
footing.
Tony Hamlin, 67, of Winchester, was homeless
and staying at the Salvation Army shelter
on Fort Collier Road when he enrolled with SCSEP shortly after its launch in
July 2017.
At the time, Hamlin was out of work, out of
money and running out of hope.
“It’s like dominoes,” he said this week.
“You’re treading, and then you start sinking. It’s very hard to get back up.”
Since Hamlin was already staying at the
Salvation Army, his program assignment was to cook 15 hours a week for shelter
residents. SCSEP pays his hourly wage in exchange for the Salvation Army
teaching him new job skills he can eventually use to find a full-time position
elsewhere.
Stacey Heavner, director of SCSEP for the
Winchester area, said additional program funds were recently made available,
making it possible for her to enroll more participants and place them in
part-time jobs at about a dozen community service partners, including The Laurel Center, American Red Cross, Faithworks, United
Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley and others.
People can stay in the training program for up
to four years, by which time they should be qualified to land another job on
their own.
“Job training for someone who’s been out of
the workforce for a couple of years also includes getting up when the alarm goes
off, getting ready and being at work on time,” Heavner said.
Of the 22 people who have enrolled in SCSEP
since it came to Winchester nearly two years ago, 10 have already transitioned
to full-time employment.
“We follow them for one year after they become
employed so they don’t lose track and we don’t lose track of them,” she said.
Beverly Brown, 65, of Winchester, is two years
into SCSEP and starting to plan her next step.
“I want to be in the field where I’m helping
somebody,” Brown said this week. “I don’t like just sitting behind a desk.”
She is currently building her skills by
working 25 hours a week for the nonprofit Goodwill organization
in Winchester.
Jeannette Postel, 63, of Winchester, came to
SCSEP because she wanted to get back to work after a medical condition caused
her to lose partial use of her left side.
“I’m a go-getter, I’m a positive person, and I
wanted to give back to people our age,” said Postel, who was assigned to work
with United Way of Northern Shenandoah Valley’s Valley Assistance Network.
The job training she has received through
SCSEP, Postel said, has improved her computer skills, and the increased use of
her hands has improved the mobility of her left side.
Even though the part-time income earned
through SCSEP job placements isn’t a fortune, it can make a big difference,
especially for someone like Hamlin, who also collects government benefits.
“Once I got to the point where I was back to
treading water again, I was able to do other things,” said Hamlin, who has
moved out of the Salvation Army shelter and into a private efficiency at a
local extended-stay motel.
Heavner said the U.S. Department of Labor and
the National Council on Aging recently awarded extra funding to the local SCSEP
that must be used by the end of June.
“We are hoping to enroll as many people as we
can to use up those funds,” Heavner said. “I would like to see an influx.”
To qualify for SCSEP, participants must be 55
or older, unemployed, looking for work and meet federal poverty guidelines.
For more information or to arrange an
enrollment interview, call 540-532-3639. Appointments are required before going
to the SCSEP office at 2 N. Cameron St.
— Contact Brian Brehm at bbrehm@winchesterstar.com
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