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Securing meaningful work for those in need
St. Joseph the Worker celebrates 20 years of employment success
By Ambria Hammel, ahammel@catholicsun.org
September 18, 2008
Ken Johnson called St. Joseph the Worker “a true oasis in a sea of fear and doubt.”
That’s because the job service agency was instrumental in helping him get his life back on track after a series of “small negative factors” that led the law-school graduate to homelessness.
Three-and-a-half months ago, he wandered from his temporary home at Central Arizona Shelter Services to St. Joseph the Worker on the Human Services Campus in downtown Phoenix.
The privately funded agency, which will mark its 20th anniversary next month, specializes in helping the homeless and disadvantaged secure meaningful employment.
“I didn’t feel homeless anymore, really, because I had an address and a phone number,” Johnson said.
Job seekers registered with St. Joseph the Worker can put the agency’s address on their résumé and job applications. They also receive their own voicemail number so they can communicate with prospective employers.
Johnson found a part-time job as a paralegal within a month. He continued visiting St. Joseph the Worker daily and just secured full-time employment.
“You can’t job hunt today without computer access,” Johnson said. St. Joseph the Worker gives its clients unlimited access to the agency’s computers and other office equipment to follow up on job leads.
“We tell people, ‘while you’re on the job searching, this is your office,’” said Amy Caffarello, executive director.
Moral support
The 10 staff members and 20-some volunteers become their co-workers who rally them on with every endeavor. Volunteers logged 1,300 hours during the 2007-2008 fiscal year, helping clients develop professional résumés, practicing interviewing skills and outfitting them with interview and work clothes.
“They live and die with me as I go to these interviews,” Johnson said.
While Johnson is grateful for all of the practical support he’s found at St. Joseph the Worker, it’s the moral support that has meant the most.
“The most important thing for me was the psychological support, the spiritual support,” Johnson said. “They make you feel like you’re worth something.”
And St. Joseph the Worker has been helping a growing number of people regain their dignity and find meaningful employment lately. With current economic conditions, more and more “average” citizens are experiencing homelessness, said Blue Swadener, outreach coordinator.
“Many individuals are not prepared to weather the longer storm between jobs,” Swadener said. “They exhaust their savings quicker than they thought and find themselves homeless.”
St. Joseph the Worker saw a 60 percent increase in first-time clients during the 2007-2008 fiscal year that ended last July. More than 700 registered clients sought the agency’s services last year, up from 400 the previous year.
It helped 334 homeless and low-income individuals secure full-time employment this year with nearly half offering benefits.
Restoring hope
Robert Brandy was one of them. He moved to the Valley from Texas so St. Joseph the Worker equipped him with maps of the area, clothes, job leads and a bus pass to get to his interviews.
Brandy was offered a job making bread for Sara Lee and had three days to buy the proper pants and shoes for work. That was tough to do without a paycheck, but St. Joseph the Worker stepped in.
The agency routinely helps employed clients secure work-related items including an employer-related drug screening, a food handler’s card, uniforms, work boots or tools. It recently hired a full-time follow-up coordinator to tend to such needs.
Brandy found St. Joseph the Worker’s “after care” the most meaningful. The follow-up program includes helping clients secure housing as they transition into a self-sufficient lifestyle with long-term goals. It also offers clients budgeting and peer networking opportunities.
“You feel they’ve not forgotten about you,” Brandy said. “It kind of restores your faith in your fellow man.”
St. Joseph the Worker thrives on restoring hope for its clients as they gain meaningful employment.
The agency was founded by the same Holy Cross priests and brothers that run André House, a soup kitchen and shelter next door. It will celebrate two decades of transitioning homeless individuals into self-sufficient workers Oct. 10.
The evening will feature a reception, live music, a silent auction, dinner and a formal program honoring clients, the founding board and the André House community.
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