WORK TO GO : Job Opportunities Roll In Via Mobile Counseling Center

When Sammy Espinoza and Richard Tinoco rode their bicycles past the El Modena Community Center in Orange on Tuesday, curiosity about a 30-foot-long van parked outside caused them to stop and investigate.

Moments later, Espinoza, 26, and Tinoco, 25, both unemployed construction workers, were filling out application forms to participate in a job-training program.

It was the first day on the job for counselors inside the van, a career counseling and job referral unit on wheels. The counselors, from the Language and Assessment Center in Santa Ana, had grown tired of “sitting back waiting for people who need service to walk through the door,” spokesperson Sandra Sarr said.

“It’s a great opportunity for someone who wants to learn and work at the same time,” said Tinoco, who lost his job as a plasterer four months ago. Neither Tinoco nor Espinoza owns a car, and like some local residents, both were glad the van came to them.

Carlos Perez, 62, an unemployed painter who walked to the van from his home around the corner, said a “lot of people have no transportation at all, and this makes it easier.”

Counselors estimated that at least seven of the 35 new applicants who visited the van were residents of Center Street, where the community center is located.

“We thought we could really reach people by getting out here in this mobile unit,” said Lynne Stedman, director of the center, which sponsors the free program with Santa Ana College. “A lot of people have barriers to getting to our center in Santa Ana.”

Most of the visitors learned of the van from flyers distributed in the neighborhood and from local newspaper ads.

Counselors said the program is the first of its kind in Orange County to offer full-service career counseling from a mobile unit.

The van is funded through the Job Training Partnership Act, which created a joint partnership involving federal, state and local governments and private industry. The program replaced the old Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, which was phased out by the Reagan Administration. To be eligible, individuals must be 18 or older and residents of Santa Ana, Orange, Modjeska, Silverado and other unincorporated areas of Orange County, Sarr said.

The program has on-the-job and classroom training for a variety of trades, including auto mechanic, emergency medical technician, drafting, security guard and electronics technician, Sarr said. Vocational counseling and training for the high school equivalency examination are also available.

“We also are really looking to serve seniors over 55 and also displaced or laid-off workers,” director Stedman said. “We have special funds for these people, and there are so many programs available to them.”

Each applicant is given a brief orientation and tested for basic math and reading skills.

Within a few hours, counselors advise the client of available training options, job opportunities and the possibility for job referral.

The van, which will travel to “clinics, shopping centers, anywhere it’s needed,” will be at the El Modena Community Center Tuesdays through Saturdays for the next three weeks, Sarr said. It will then move for a while to a shopping center parking lot at Bristol Street and McFadden Avenue in Santa Ana.