Digby’s potential workforce is stronger by four.
Charmaine Amero, Karly Amero, Kathleen Deveau and Brandon Farnsworth graduated this week from the Youth Skills Link program..
The personalized 25-week programs put on by the Employment Opportunities Partnership helps individuals aged 15 to 30 by offering work experience and the possibility of moving forward with their education.
This year’s participants talked openly at the graduation ceremonies last week about how the program and especially the job placements have helped them.
Charmaine Amero has been working in several different departments at Superstore.
“I have learned some good customer service skills,” she told the crowd at the graduation ceremony. “I used to be afraid to go out on the floor where the customers are but now I know how to answer their questions.”
Amero says she’d like to get a job at the Superstore or work at some of the ideas that came to her while working there.
Brandon Farnsworth told the crowd he had been doing “absolutely nothing” for the last three years. He had been sending out applications, looking in vain for work, and hanging out alone in his apartment.
“I wasn’t expecting anything to change and then out of nowhere this program shows up,” said Farnsworth. “All of a sudden I’ve got a chance to work somewhere and at a job I am really good at.
“I work at Walmart in the electronics department. I’m basically an information tank; I tell people about the products, where they are, what they do, how to use them.”
Farnsworth says best of all the program has given him “a bunch of options.”
“Before I had none. I could keep working at Walmart, I could apply to college, I could pursue some other interests. This program has changed my whole life around.”
Karly Amero too had been doing nothing and it was depressing her. Her experience at the Wee Weymouth Kindergarten and Daycare – she says she loves it there – has convinced her that she wants to purse early childhood education as a career. Her plan now is to finish her Grade 12 and take an ECE course at college.
Kathleen Deveau had been working summers at a pub but was not having any success finding year round work. Through the program she got a placement at the Annapolis Royal Nursing Home and worked in every department: in the kitchen, in the laundry, in housekeeping and in nursing.
Nursing was her favourite part of the experience. The only thing she didn’t like was the restrictions on what she was allowed to do because of her lack of training.
“This program has given me a good idea what I want to do and prepared me for the next step,” said Deveau. “I’d like to do Continuing Care Assistant training and thanks to this program I have a good resume and a good idea how it works and what I have to do. Just by watching the nurses you learn a lot.”
Linda Bailey, the Administrator at ARNH says the staff and resident “really took to Kathleen” and noticed a wonderful transformation from shy and hesitant to a valued contributing member of the team.
“I do hope you pursue your CCA training, you have the potential. Don’t let anything stand in your way.”
Mayor Ben Cleveland is on the board of directors of the Digby Disabilities Partnership Committee and spoke at the graduation.
“The youth are the people who will build our communities and our economy and we must make every effort to assist them in whatever way we can in order for them to become effective contributing members of society.”
Since 2005 45 youth have taken part in and 42 have graduated from the Youth Skills Link program in Digby thanks to $598,000 in funding from Service Canada.
Nineteen of those youth are employed, nine others have or are moving on to further their education and another 10 are working with a counselor to continue their plan of action. Another five moved away for work and couldn’t be reached at this time.
