Helping the ‘Unemployable’ Find Work

Ron Anderson thought he would go to jail for sure.

Eight months ago, Anderson, 30, was found guilty of possession and sale of cocaine. He was put on probation and ordered to enter a Salvation Army rehabilitation program.

Six months later, Anderson made the mistake of violating his probation by drinking three beers.

At his hearing, Anderson brought in three character witnesses who persuaded the judge that all Anderson needed was another chance.

Instead of jail, the judge ordered a 6-month stay in a transitional housing shelter. While there, he received training and counseling from Foothill Jobs, a nonprofit job placement agency in Pasadena, and the former cocaine addict and recovering alcoholic began his life anew. Anderson now works as a mover for MonVan Moving Services in Monrovia where he was hired in October.

Anderson is a typical example of Foothill Jobs success stories, people who have been helped back into society by learning how to achieve one of life’s necessities: a job.

“The effect of Foothill Jobs on one individual is so phenomenal. You get the chance to change somebody’s life,” said Eleanor Torres, community liaison and job developer for Foothill Jobs.

Maung Win Naing’s life was also changed by Foothill Jobs. The 28-year-old Burmese native had no job skills when he was referred to Foothill Jobs.

“Everyone said he was unemployable” because of a 6-month jail term for assault, Torres said.

But since April, Naing has been working as an assembler at Aerol Co., a manufacturing firm in Los Angeles, and has received a raise and a promotion.

Anderson and Naing took classes in job preparation, career planning, work observation and counseling at Foothill Jobs before they got their jobs.

“I was homeless. . . . I was upset, confused and scared. I felt hopeless; I had no goals,” said Naing, who lives in Highland Park. “Now, each day I wake up and thank God I have a place to live and I’m back on my feet again. Foothill Jobs gave me my dignity back.”

Foothill Jobs was created in 1984 as a pilot program of the U.S. Ministries division of World Vision, an international Christian relief and development agency based in Monrovia. The job placement agency was financed by World Vision until January, 1988. The agency is now financed by grants, sponsors and donations.

The agency, which serves the San Gabriel Valley, helps those who are homeless, jobless and in low-income brackets because of ethnic obstacles, job inexperience or alcohol and drug addiction, Torres said.

Its motto--”Placing Good People in Good Jobs”--expresses the staff’s belief that not only do the destitute have potential, but that jobs are the way to realize that potential.

“We believe in giving a helping hand rather than giving a handout,” Torres said. “We’re a Christian-based organization, but we don’t flaunt it. You won’t come in and see any crosses on the walls; we believe in acting out what we believe.”

The immediate needs of clients--the things that hinder them from finding work--are the first to be taken care of, Torres said. Those needs, including clothes, shelter, transportation and child care, are met through contacts with other social service agencies.

After those needs are taken care of, the agency teaches the clients job-search skills. They learn how to find job openings, fill out applications, conduct courteous and professional telephone conversations and to present themselves as valuable assets to employers.

Officials attribute part of Foothill Jobs’ success to its “50-50” philosophy. “We’ll get five interviews for them and tell them to come up with the other five,” Torres said. Anderson, for example, arranged the MonVan interview on his own.

Low-Interest Loans

The agency even gives its clients low-interest loans for transitional housing but requires that the client pay at least half of the rent in some sort of payment plan.

“If you’re trying to help yourself, Foothill Jobs will definitely try (to) help you,” Anderson said.

“We try to get employers to take a chance on some of these high-risk people, and that means acknowledging that every human being has an intrinsic value. It’s a hard thing to do,” Torres said.

If clients don’t like a job, they can go on another interview, although they are encouraged to stay at a job to build a sense of stability.

“We get clients jobs they want to do or they’ll leave and we won’t have achieved our goal,” said Debbie Angel, executive director of Foothill Jobs. And they provide replacement employees in an effort to make sure employers are not left in the lurch.

Anderson’s employer, Ed Aguilar, said he is impressed with Anderson’s job performance.

“Anderson comes in on time; in fact, he comes in about 10 to 15 minutes early. He shows initiative,” Aguilar said. “Others come in late or don’t show up and I hear the same old excuses. . . . ‘The car broke down.’ Anderson doesn’t even have a car. He takes the bus and still gets here on time. Dependability--that’s what we need, and he’s dependable.”

Not everyone succeeds in this type of self-sufficiency training, Angel said.

“Certain people won’t fit into our program,” Angel said. “If they are drug-addicted or alcoholics, they have to be clean for at least 90 days. Obviously if they’re using drugs, they’re not going to make good employees.” The severely mentally ill or socially dysfunctional also make poor candidates for the program, Angel said.

Foothill Jobs differs from other job placement agencies in its comprehensiveness, said Bruce Ackerman, executive vice president for the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce, a sponsor of the agency.

“A lot of agencies seem to be concentrating on just developing the job and not getting the employee ready for that job,” Ackerman said. “Foothill Jobs is an excellent training and job development process.”

There are 18 job development agencies in the San Gabriel Valley area--including Foothill Jobs--which are financed in part by the Foothill Private Industry Council.

But some agencies restrict who they serve and are less comprehensive than Foothill Jobs, said Lenard Black, who enforces affirmative action in job contracting for Pasadena.

The Private Industry Council, which is financed by the federal Job Training Placement Act, “has criteria; you have to meet certain eligibility standards for job placement,” Black said. “Foothill Jobs is not contained by such restrictions. They’re set up to help anybody.”

Although Joann Balac, contract manager for the Foothill Private Industry Council, said that to compare agencies is unfair because different placement agencies are set up to help different kinds of people, she too thinks Foothill Jobs offers something extra.

“The staff is so dedicated,” Balac said. “They go way beyond what requirements the Job Training Placement Act asks for. They might track a person for a year, or even two. They realize there is no short-term solution to turning people’s lives around.”

The agency has placed 138 people so far this year and boasts an 85% retention rate, based on at least 90 days on the job.

Because the agency has only two counselors and enough space to take 20 clients at a time, there is often a waiting list of up to 30 people who sometimes have to wait as long as two weeks before they can take the training classes.

But it is worth the wait. The average salary paid to Foothill Jobs clients--$6.52 an hour--is higher than most agencies. “We want to give them a reason to be off welfare,” Torres said.

“What we do is so cost-effective,” she said. “If we can recycle cans, we can certainly recycle people.” A person with an average salary of $6.52 per hour will earn about $12,500 and returns to society about $1,500 in taxes, she said.

Benefit to Society

Angel added that there is a benefit to society as well. “If we can get people off welfare and give them jobs, we won’t have to raise taxes,” she said.

Foothill Jobs operates “on a shoestring,” Torres said. Their budget last year was a meager $89,000, but with company sponsorships, private donations, four grants and lots of networking, they make ends meet.

The agency also raises money by selling seats to the annual Tournament of Roses Parade. With a block of seats on Colorado Boulevard, they claim prime parade seating.

“We’re now selling seats for $30. The cost includes breakfast, parking and use of rest room facilities,” Angel said. They hope the fund-raiser will bring in about $9,000.

The success of Foothill Jobs has inspired U.S. Ministries to open six other agencies in depressed urban areas across the country, including Jobstarts, scheduled to open in South-Central Los Angeles Jan. 1, said Michael Friedline, special projects coordinator for U.S. Ministries and founder of Foothill Jobs.

“Foothill Jobs was a great learning laboratory,” Friedline said. “We’ve placed a combined total of about 1,400 people. It’s not going to change the world, but it makes a solid contribution to society.”

Nevertheless, Torres is aware that the program does have its failures, clients who cannot--usually because they will not--be helped.

“We confront them and tell them we have concerns about whether or not they really want to work,” Torres said. “Sometimes they get irate and say, ‘I don’t want to be a part of this anymore,’ and take off, and we’ll never see them again.”

But the successful ones who do stick around express their gratitude long after they’ve found economic independence.

“I’m not going anywhere,” said Anderson, who spends some of his extra time doing volunteer work and fund raising for Foothill Jobs. “This is my little family.”