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Prepped for Employment

Prepped for Employment

At the turn of the decade, the American economy was speedily racing toward rock bottom. Likened to the Great
Depression, the economic downfall of the 21st century nearly brought an entire country to its knees — and all of its citizens along with it. Stock investors forgot what a green arrow looked like. Real estate agents couldn’t recall the victorious sensation of a sale. All the while, the national unemployment rate soared to 9.6 percent and forced mothers and fathers to lumber home and inform their families they had been laid off from work. Newly graduated college students begrudgingly rummaged for disappearing jobs as the “real world” transformed into a reality that was nearly impossible access.

Naturally, Jim Loveless found it to be a good time to come out of retirement. “I tell people I retired, and it didn’t take,” Loveless says. “I like being challenged. We only have so much time, and I don’t want to spend it unproductively.” Loveless was teaching biology at Columbia College when he heard about an opening for the CEO position at Job Point.

Beginning the enterprise
Originally entitled Advent Enterprises, Job Point stemmed from a father’s love for his daughter. When the man gazed upon his little girl, he saw her beauty and capability; the world, however, simply noticed that she had Down syndrome and thus didn’t consider her fit for employment. Angered to action, this man, a member of the Cosmopolitan Columbia Luncheon Club, relentlessly sought a grant to begin the enterprise. In the mid-1960s, he acquired $9,000 to launch the organization. Men were taught to repair wooden Pepsi cases, and women provided ironing services.

Throughout the 47 years of its existence, Advent Enterprises shifted from a focus on residential services to providing occupational positions for its clients. Now, it strives to promote the abilities of individuals seeking employment and participation in community life. “What a great mission,” Loveless says. “The idea of a person who may never have had any kind of job at all and never thought they could, when they come back with their first paycheck, they just light up. It’s very rewarding.”

Aiming for independent employment
Like all great organizations, it takes teamwork to make the Job Point dream work. The staff unites to teach clients fundamental skills for professionalism. Employment consultants search for jobs online, provide mock interviews and educate clients on how to write résumés and cover letters. Sometimes, staff members even accompany clients to the sites to help them learn the jobs and meet the bosses’ expectations. “Our goal is not just to get them a job but to have them keep that job,” Loveless says. The goal is for the client to experience 90 days of independent employment; during the past year, 73 percent of Job Point’s adult job seekers maintained a position for at least that long.

To accomplish this, Job Point offers several programs. YouthBuild serves young job seekers who have dropped out of high school. In this program, clients learn residential or highway construction. After building a home, they sell their product to people with low to moderate income. “We built a house in Wellsville,” Loveless says, “and the grandmother of one of the participants bought that house. So he built his grandmother’s house. It was really neat.”

Another system is set up for people who have criminal records and have just come out of prison. Finding placements for these people can be a challenge — and one that Loveless appreciates. “Recidivism drops by 75 percent if they have a job,” he says. “That’s pretty amazing.”

Other Job Point clients enroll in programs to become trained medical professionals such as nursing assistants or dental aides. Job Point clients also serve in commercial-sized kitchens, universities, hospitals and grocery stores. “Frequently, you’ll see the folks bagging or pulling the carts in from the parking lot,” Loveless says. “You look at that person and think, ‘That could be a Job Point person.’”

Last year alone Job Point found employment for nearly 700 people. Since Loveless took the CEO position in 2010, the unemployment rate has fallen nearly 2 percent. The revival of our nation could be due, in large part, to people like him and the staff of Job Point.

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