Community Care Programs

Garrick Gray has new plans for the future thanks to MLM’s Education Center.

Education Center Aims for
Long-Term Solutions

Garrick Gray’s solid build and intense approach turn to enthusiasm when he talks about his plans for the future. Unemployed and homeless a year ago, Garrick has made strides that few can imagine.

Metro Lutheran Ministry was a key, providing a deposit for an apartment and one of his first pieces of furniture. Garrick was also required to visit the Chael-Dykman Education Center in order to look for a job and gain important skills.

“One of the deals was that I attend these classes,” Garrick explained. “They were a big help, a really big help.”

The payoff came when eight months ago Garrick found work at a restaurant in the Power and Light Entertainment District. Now he’s making long-term career plans.

“I’ve always worked in kitchen areas,” he explained. “But this is actually prepping food. I’m getting some hands-on learning and I like that. My goal is, God willing, to go back to culinary school and become a chef or pastry chef.”

The Education Center was a key because its computers allow clients like Garrick to prepare digital resumes that are virtually required today. They also have access to more than a dozen Internet job sites such as Careerbuilder.com. Along the way, many clients learn for the first time the computer skills that are critical in today’s job market.

“Computer literacy is a big issue, especially for older clients,” explains Life Skills and Employment Assistance Coordinator Cachet Montgomery. “If they are under 35 or 40, they are usually familiar with a computer, even experienced. But for someone 40 and up, it can be a problem. And that’s what we’re here for.”

James Hobbs finds access to Internet job applications at the MLM Education Center is critical in today’s online employment searches.

James Hobbs knows his way around a computer, but finds the online access critical after his employer closed. On a recent morning, he was among the first to arrive at the Education Center to submit an application to an area company he heard was hiring. He had already checked bus service to the area and just needed to update his resume and submit it electronically.

“It’s really handy to have this right here,” he said of the center. “You have to have these computers today.”

Like many, James never expected to join the ranks of the unemployed. He had worked in warehousing for nearly 20 years when the company closed. He found some work in social services, which fits his college training, but nothing steady. “The center helps me keep looking,” he said. “That’s what I have to do.”

With Cachet and Project Care Case Manager Bruce Miller, clients also have help if they hit a roadblock. “Clients come in, spend time working on the computers, they practice and they learn,” Cachet said. “We make them feel at ease and pretty soon they start navigating the computers and Web sites. And that makes them feel good. They realize they can handle this stuff.”

There is also a traditional bulletin board with job postings that Cachet gathers from several area sources, but much of the effort involves online job searches. There’s also help creating good resumes and help with the long list of questions that invariably arise. Insight into polishing a resume, bus schedules and other details are just some of the information that is available here.

The center offers even more. Cachet and Bruce lead Life Skills classes almost every day. Topics range from money management to how to act in a job interview. Because they are “life skills” rather than job skills, the one-hour sessions include topics such as food and nutrition, women’s health and parenting.

“We try to cover things that affect their lives as well as work skills,” Cachet said. “Domestic violence is a good example. Many women are homeless because they had to leave their house to escape domestic violence. Learning how to deal with that is important.”

The best part of the center may be another bulletin board where Cachet posts stars with the names of those who have graduated by landing a job. Since July, 23 names have been added to the place of honor—and that’s only those who have reported in after getting a job.