Financially destitute people who need unconventional assistance to secure full-time employment can turn to the new Client Supports Project offered by WorkLink Employment Society.
The project, co-funded by the Victoria Foundation and WorkLink Employment Society, helps job-seekers obtain things as varied as food and phones when no other option exists.
The goal is for clients eventually to become self-sufficient through employment by removing barriers to their success.
“The program fills gaps and holes to services already provided [to job seekers],” said Jo Zlotnik, a client-service manager with the society.
The majority of government-funded financial assistance pays for specific, eligible items required to get a job, but often clients’ needs fall outside that set criteria.
She gave an example where a person successfully got a job, but because they were financially destitute, didn’t have any money to pay for food in the three weeks before their first paycheque.
The program paid for three week’s worth of groceries to fill the gap.
The job seeker might also be homeless, perhaps couch-surfing with no permanent address, making it difficult for an employer to call to set up an interview or schedule shifts.
The program has helped individuals with obtaining a low-cost cellphone, so that prospective employers could contact them.
Some solutions also include partnering with other community groups, such as one that provides job-seekers with used clothing appropriate for an interview.
“We help people get over hurdles and get them what they need — with solutions that don’t exist anywhere else,” said Zlotnik, who has been in the employment-service industry for 18 years. “Removing these blocks to success has resulted in continued employment for some clients.”
The project, which began this year, is expected to help 62 clients over the course of the year. The average cost per client is about $64 for the 36 clients it has helped so far. Support has ranged from as low as $5 (for bus fare) to $250. Apart from providing items, the fund will also consider providing employers with wage subsidies as an incentive to hire some clients.
“We are grateful to the Victoria Foundation for their help in this well-utilized program,” Zlotnik said.
WorkLink Employment Society is a non-profit organization contracted to provide WorkBC and Service Canada employment services and programs to more than 1,800 job-seeking clients every year. It is one of 73 WorkBC Employment Service Centres in B.C., with an office in the West Shore and a satellite office in Sooke.
It provides services to the residents of the Western Shore, Sooke, Jordan River and Port Renfrew. It also provides aboriginal-outreach services to the First Nations communities of Beecher Bay, T’Souke and Pacheedaht.
For more information, go to worklink.bc.ca. — Pedro Arrais