A few minutes later, Rivera throws another one at them: "Ready for the question?"
It's actually a quote, and he wants to know – "Who said that?"
City Limits Magazine
Spring 2008:
Target of Opportunities
News Topics
The Economy
Justice
Author
Neil deMause
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The life and teachings of the civil rights leader Rev. Ralph Abernathy are not usually on the curriculum for job training programs targeted at women on welfare. But then, the programs run at the New York office of the nonprofit Strive, where Rivera is chief operating officer, are not typical workforce development fare. Intended to provide not just an immediate job but a start to a permanent career in a growth field, these classes join other programs, such as those run by groups like Nontraditional Employment for Women and Brooklyn's Hope Program, in driving a continuing debate over how best to get welfare recipients into work that will raise them out of poverty.
The old model, says Rivera, an Air Force vet with a background in career development for college students, was to get people into low-wage employment, and figure they could work their way out of minimum wage from there. "It worked for 24 years for the economy that they were in," he says, but a few years ago it became clear that "the model was broken": There were fewer low-skill jobs available, and more degrees and advanced training required.
Strive's latest offering began last month: three training tracks in computer technology and office operations for women roughly 18 to 40 who are eligible for public assistance. The job skills, Rivera says, were culled from those required for the fastest-growing professions in New York state. (Though there are exceptions: "I'm not interested in home health care," he notes, referring to a job known for paying so poorly that some health care aides live in city shelters.)
Transformation first
Before they begin learning computer skills, though, students start with what Angelo calls a one-month "transformational process." This has included guest speakers ranging from city councilmember Melissa Mark Viverito to Rev. Kanyere Eaton of the Sister Fund, as well as a day-long civics lesson focused on the history of the civil rights movement. In this day's career development class, based on a course Rivera used to teach to graduating seniors at Columbia University, he uses a motivational speaker's patter to sell his students, all of whom have come dressed in business attire, on how to approach the job search process. Experience, skills and education become the "three moons that need to line up" to make an applicant attractive to employers – which, he underlines, is all that matters when looking for a job. "It's them, them, them, them!" he stresses at one point. "Nothing in this process is for you!"
In discussions afterwards, at least some of those enrolled clearly feel they've been transformed. "It's more than just a class," enthuses Stacey Hamilton, a recent parolee from prison who was laid off in December from her job at the Center Against Domestic Violence. "It was like two weeks of therapy. I've been in a lot of programs, run a lot of groups, and I've never thought about job readiness where you have to renew yourself first. It made me like, 'Wow, what took you so long?'"
