More than 200 have found jobs

WINNIPEG, MAN.

"I needed someone who was qualified to do the work," says Roy Dawson, owner of Dawson Insurance Services, adding that owners of small businesses don't have the time, money and resources to train new employees. His new employee, Sheri, had completed the basic requirements for a general insurance agent's licence at Opportunities For Employment. Manuals, examinations, licence fees and other costs were covered by the agency.

Sheri's technical and computer skills helped her get the job, but Dawson emphasizes Sheri has many other strengths. "I appreciate people who have ambition and want to help themselves," says Dawson.

Sheri, a mother of four school-aged children, was unemployed for three-and-one-half years. Her husband Chris was unemployed for three years. This summer, they both got a job through the Opportunities For Employment program.

"We officially became people again," says Sheri. "I feel much better about myself. I hate being on assistance. You have to sit on that side of the fence to know how it feels." Social assistance recipients don't have enough money to buy bus tickets, clothes and other basic requirements to find a job, explains Sheri. When you can't find a job, you begin losing self-confidence and self-respect.

Opportunities For Employment general manager Ted Klassen says he's pleased with the agency's success at matching employers and employees. Nearly 80 percent of the people placed in long-term employment are still employed.

Opportunities For Employment was started by three Mennonite organizations--Mennonite Central Committee, Mennonite Economic Development Associates and Eden Health Care Services. The Manitoba government has agreed to reimburse the agency for costs related to the job placement when the employee has held a job for six months. The project is surpassing its initial goal of 250 placements in two years.

Klassen expects the program will move from pilot project status to a program status through a longer term agreement. He attributes the program's success to meeting the needs of Winnipeg's business community. "We are not asking employers for a hand-out. We are offering them something that has merit from a business perspective," he says.

Gladys Terichow, MCC Manitoba Communications