The Homeless Employment Pilot Project by Antonio Vigil, Lupe Castaneda, and Eileen Morris.
Our guests for Homeless Employment Project presentation on October 7, 2021, were Antonio Vigil and Lupe Castaneda, counselors at the Sonoma County Employment and Training Division, and Eileen Morris, Client Enrichment Services Manager at COTS. Antonio is the supervising counselor and has been employed at the Division for almost 28 years.
The Division is working with a number of key partners to implement the program.
They are implementing in two phases: the 1st phase is focused on people with temporary shelter and the 2nd will be focused on those without shelter. The key idea is to create a support system for referrals by collaborating with partners and adjusting to meet the referral’s needs. The Division will also use other County resources, such as On the Job Training, Temporary Work Experience, and Supportive Services, to help participants transition to employment. The program has already achieved significant accomplishments. They had their first workgroup meeting in April and started receiving referrals in May. They surveyed those experiencing homelessness to find out what they need to get back into the workforce. They have started fundraising to purchase gift cards to incentivize participants. For example, participants can get a $15.00 gift card for registering with the program or taking a mock interview. Fundraising is also necessary to pay for things that participants need to reenter the job market. They also enlisted volunteers from the Workforce Investment Board to help with mock interviews. One mock interview significantly helped a participant get a job!
Key findings from the survey regarding barriers to employment:
Some key statistics: they’ve had 40 total referrals, with 19 cases still open. Five people have gained employment. Some of the reasons for exiting the program include communication issues, the inability to contact them, relapse, and mental health.
Lupe Castaneda spoke about the program’s challenges and successes. The challenges start with the difficulty communicating with people who don’t have phones, or whose phones don’t work, or who don’t have viable email connections. She told us about 3 of her customers whose lives have been improved even after a few contacts. Ms. A. was homeless with 3 children and the victim of domestic violence. Her last job ended as a result of COVID-19. Lupe helped her apply for Cash Aid, Medi-Cal, and Food Stamps and she will get all of these, which will help her employment.
Eileen told a story about one of their clients, Rebecca. She has been homeless for a decade. She earned her AA in medical billing and coding while working on her laptop in her car. The pilot program worked with her challenges, including spotty work history, technology issues, and confidence issues. Pedro at Job Links helped her with her resume and did mock interviews, which gave her increased self-confidence. He also used his channels to help her apply for jobs. She is now on her 2nd week on the job and loving it! Everyone at COTS knows she got a great job and they are asking about the program!
What can Rotarians do? They are always looking for file organizers, gas cards, bus passes, flexible funding, and people to help with mock interviews!
Thank you so much Antonio, Lupe, and Eileen! You have a great story to tell and we appreciate learning about your good work.
Click HERE to view the presentation.
