JUMP START GRADUATES FIND WORK

Betty Avant had been told so often that she was too old and sick to work that she had begun to believe she would fail at every job she tried.

Then she entered the Jump Start for Jobs program, where she was told she was capable and talented.

On Friday Avant graduated from the two-week training program with renewed confidence, self-esteem and a new job.

"The knowledge given to me helped me revamp my skills and get energized to go out into the business world again," Avant said. "The program has been invaluable to me."

Avant was one of 14 women who on Friday graduated from the program of work-preparation and positive-thinking classes designed for those seeking to better their lives through employment.

"We try to give participants skills for getting and keeping a job," said Mary Gosche, human development specialist with the University of Missouri Extension Service and president of the Community Caring Council, which helped develop the program. "But we also try to boost their self-esteem and give them a positive attitude about seeking employment."

This is the sixth session of the program that has been completed. The program, begun in January 1997, is aimed at anyone needing a job. While all participants in this session were women Welfare-to-Work clients, the program is open to men as well, Gosche said.

It was the first session to be expanded from one week to two. In those two weeks participants were taught how to write a resume, select references, interview for a job, dress for success, manage time and money, deal with problems and set goals.

Such things are important to young women in the program like Terri Difrancesco, who said she had never filled out a job application or written a resume before entering the program.

But perhaps the most important part of the program is that participants get to interview for real jobs with real employers, said Geneva Allen, Jump Start coordinator.

Avant had found a job by the second day of the program. Avant had worked for years as a seamstress until she was diagnosed with diabetes in 1998. After that she went through a number of jobs, usually losing them because of time lost through illness.

"I had become so discouraged," she said. "I couldn't support my daughter."

Then she was told about the Jump Start program.

"It gave me my confidence back," Avant said. The program also helped her find a job as a seamstress at Guy's Big and Tall.

"It wasn't just a job. It was a job in my career field," she said.

By the time program participants marched in for a graduation ceremony after a luncheon on Friday, half of them had been hired for jobs and more were being seriously considered.

Most of that hiring was done at a job fair Friday morning where employers interviewed Jump Start participants at Evangelical United Church of Christ, where most of the Jump Start classes were held.

Amy Polhamus, general manager at Ryan's, had hired five participants, who are set to begin work next week.

"They all had good attitudes and interviewed well," said Polhamus.

"It's getting harder to find people who want to work," said Pam Ladreiter, human resources assistant at Mid-America Hotels Corp., who was considering hiring several Jump Start applicants. "It seemed like the women from these classes want to work."

But getting jobs is only the beginning for these women, said Kristy Budt, the newly hired employment coordinator for the Community Caring Council. The program also teaches skills to help participants keep jobs.

"Some of these women have never worked," Budt said "They may not know that if they have to go to a funeral they should ask for the day off instead of just not showing up."

The program also tries to provide some support services like help with child care and transportation.

"We try to break down the barriers to employment," said Gosche.

It's difficult to gauge how successful the program has been in it nearly three years of operation because there has been no tracking of graduates.

But a $60,000 grant the program recently received from the state will be used to help track graduates. It also is paying for Budt's salary as employment coordinator.

"The strength of the program has been building interview skills," Gosche said. "Now we are putting an emphasis on job retention skills."

And that's important to people like Polhamus, who said she told applicants: "If you don't work, you won't work for me. But if you work you can work for me for a long time."

Speakers at the graduation ceremonies, who included Jim Watkins, community developer of Caring Communities, and Shirley Ramsey, director of the Community Caring Council, all urged the graduates to use what they had learned to reach their personal goals.

"Your achievements won't be determined by your abilities alone," Allen told the graduates, "but by your desire to reach them."