Creating Solutions: Project C.A.P.E. connects employers, community agencies and untapped workforce

For Nicholas Zuccarini, finding adequate housing is a challenge.

When he was younger, he spent time in prison and says he was not well prepared for transitioning out of the prison system, unsure of how to connect with employers and agencies who could help him move his life in the direction he wanted to go. By order of his parole officer, he attended One City’s Work Life program in Cape Girardeau, which helped him prepare for job interviews, write a resume and refine soft skills for the workplace. He said the program was a “lifesaver.”

At the suggestion of One City representatives, he attended Project C.A.P.E. (Connecting Area Partners for Employment), a hiring event held at the Shawnee Park Center on March 25 organized by the Cape Chamber, First Call for Help, Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri, Adult Education and Literacy, Workforce Development Board and Legal Services of Southern Missouri. The event was designed to bring area employers and agency case managers together to identify solutions to local workforce issues, according to the Cape Chamber’s Facebook page. It brought together agency case workers, employers and potential employees who have obstacles to employment. While attending the event, Zuccarini met with community organizations that offer assistance in connecting people with local resources, including help with finding adequate housing.

“I’ve made these connections, but a lot of people [coming out of prison] don’t know where to go, don’t know how to make the connections,” Zuccarini said. “So this is a great thing, and I like it. I salute it. Because it’s something that’s helping.”

In addition to the job fair, the event provided networking opportunities for employers and case workers. The two groups engaged in a roundtable discussion about the obstacles they face in finding and keeping employees and in helping their clients gain and retain employment.

Kim Voelker, vice-president of the Cape Chamber, leads a discussion with employers and community agencies before the start of a job fair during Project C.A.P.E. This was the second time Project C.A.P.E. has been held; the event was first held at One City in Summer 2020.Aaron Eisenhauer

The event was inspired by a similar one held in another community that Cape Chamber vice president Kim Voelker learned about at a conference. Thinking of the employers she serves through the chamber and her role in building Cape’s workforce, when she heard about this solution, she said she knew she needed to bring the idea to Cape. The event was first held in Cape during the summer of 2020 at One City; at the second event on March 25, 18 employers and 14 community agencies attended.

Representatives from Verdesion, a global company that produces biological products for plant health and nutrition with a facility in Cape Girardeau that makes granular micronutrients to mix into granular fertilizers, had 21 open job positions and hoped to fill five of those through their presence at the job fair. The company hopes to double their business between now and 2025 and shared that they offer $1,600 per week during onboarding, 100% of medical insurance for employees and their families, and 100% of costs for uniforms. In addition to finding employees, training manager Eric Wilson said he also hoped to meet community partners who could be the link to giving people jobs in the future.

Wilson said some Verdesian employees face three major barriers to employment in this community.

“Transportation is a big one,” Wilson said. “Childcare, definitely. Especially if you’ve got a single parent who can’t rely on another person in the household. We’ve had some housing issues — somebody’s living at the shelter or something like that, they don’t know where they’re going at the end of their shift. So that’s probably the three biggest things that we’re dealing with on a daily basis.”

He said Verdesion partners with local transportation companies and local agencies like the Community Counseling Center to work to alleviate these burdens for employees. The company has also had conversations about joining the ranks of forward-thinking businesses who provide childcare and other resources to employees by implementing solutions such as a carpool service, although they haven’t yet made concrete plans for this.

Randy Nielsen, president and CEO of Schaefer Electrical Enclosures, speaks with job seekers. Eighteen companies attended the event at the Shawnee Park Center on March 25, 2021.Aaron Eisenhauer

Community organizations offered services at the event to support attendees once they attain employment. Soni Lloyd, Community Counseling Center’s CoNEXTion program manager, said she sees that transportation, lack of finances to buy necessary materials for a job such as professional clothes, and a lack of job skills are challenges the people she works with often encounter. At the event, she offered Easy Wireless signups, a government prepaid phone service for people who are enrolled in a government assistance program, to help alleviate the cost of phone service for attendees.

“We brought Easy Wireless with us today because I was thinking if people get jobs, they’re going to need a phone in order to hear from employers and stuff,” Lloyd said. “So that’s why it’s so important for us to be here today. Just making sure people get connected.”

Thomas Sanders, street outreach specialist with the Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri, said the biggest barrier to employment for the people he works with is often “communication and understanding between employee and employer.” The Community Partnership of Southeast Missouri works to bridge the gap and find employers willing to work with people who are facing barriers to employment such as living on the street or being behind financially. They act as mediators who help employers understand the situation behind an employee missing work, perhaps because they haven’t taken their medication or had an unexpected situation arise with their child.

Fostering understanding between employer and employee comes back to recognizing people’s humanity, he said.

“A lot of the people we help place in jobs have had sort of the world against them for at least a year or two, and so they don’t have an easy time making connections with people,” Sanders said. “It’s not easy for them to ... feel comfortable coming back to work. Quite a few of the ones I’ve talked to, they feel ostracized just because they were homeless or they don’t have a diploma or they were in jail.”

Lisa Green listens intently as Lew Polivick, deputy director of Legal Services of Southern Missouri, explains the process of expungement during a clinic at Project C.A.P.E. on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Green, who has sought employment as a nurse, has been held back by a decade-old misdemeanor on her record.Aaron Eisenhauer

In addition to community organizations offering services to support those seeking employment, representatives from Legal Services of Southern Missouri conducted an expungement clinic at which people could get certain offenses expunged at no charge if they fell within the guidelines for expungement as stated in Senate Bill 588. More than 75 people attended the expungement clinic, and Lew Polivick, deputy director for Legal Services of Southern Missouri, estimates 25 to 30 of those who filled out questionnaires will be eligible to get their offenses expunged.

Keith Lewis, staff attorney, said oftentimes, crimes that are expunged are ones that occurred decades ago; although the person’s life is completely different from when they incurred the offense, it still hinders them in gaining employment. Once a crime is expunged, someone can legally say they don’t have a criminal record.

At the clinic, attendees filled out a questionnaire to inquire about their eligibility for expungement. The summons is then sent to state agencies such as the highway patrol, department of corrections and the county sheriff’s office before a court date is set. At that point, Lewis said the actual court hearing hardly takes any time at all.

With an end goal of helping employers fill empty positions and helping people find meaningful employment throughout the region, for many present, bringing people from different backgrounds together in the same room is a first step.

Loretta Childers attended the job fair and said she was specifically interested in opportunities she found with Servicemaster and the Veteran’s Home. She was also able to connect with community organizations that assist with housing and transportation.

“Take advantage of the opportunity that’s given because some people say, ‘Oh, I can’t find a job,’” Childers said. “Well, you can if you get out here, and they’ll help you. They’ll give you tools to find a job and stuff. ... It’s really nice to find.”