The City of Eureka just concluded another round of the “Pathway to Payday” program, in which a select group of city residents — many homeless, but not all — undergo a four-day workshop culminating in an actual job interview with local employers. Its success rate? Pretty good.
Sierra Wood, the city of Eureka’s homeless services coordinator, recently talked with the Outpost’s John Kennedy O’Connor about how it works.
Video above, transcript below.
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JOHN KENNEDY O’CONNOR:
And welcome to another Humboldt Conversation. Today I’m here with Sierra Wood, who is the Homeless Services Coordinator with the City of Eureka. Sierra, really nice to see you again. Thanks so much for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation. Now, you are involved with homeless services, but you’re also involved with some other programs that are not just related to the homeless situation in Eureka, and one of those is Pathway to Payday, which is a really exciting program. I know I’ve talked to the City of Eureka about it before, but you’ve just finished the latest series in this. Tell us about this program.
SIERRA WOOD:
Yeah, so this is a four-day program. It’s free for all community members, and it really works to take people through all the steps of looking for a job, starting with creating a resume, applying for jobs, getting interview practice. And then ultimately, we have employers that are hiring actually come to interview participants.
O’CONNOR:
Now, it is a partnership with the Betty Chinn Foundation, and as I say you are the homeless coordinator, but it’s not for the homeless, necessarily, is it? It is for everybody who is looking for work.
WOOD:
No, so yeah, this is part of our program Community Action Project for Eureka, so it’s open to all community members, not specifically the homeless.
O’CONNOR:
Now tell us what happens, because on day one it’s all about the focus on job applications.
WOOD:
Yeah, day one we have actually three workshops that happen. So those are all about overcoming various barriers that you might be facing when trying to find employment. Really just trying to empower yourself and think about your own values and unique qualities that you can bring to a job. Those sorts of skills that some people might be needing a little refresher on, reminding themselves why they can be really of value in a job.
O’CONNOR:
And after that — because it is what, a four-day course? — after that, on the second day, there’s mock interviews.
WOOD:
Yeah, yeah. Second day you’re going to take all those tools that you used in the workshops and you’re going to actually have the chance to practice those mock interviews. Get all the nerves out and just really kind of work on what you’re going to say.
O’CONNOR:
But day three is when it gets quite exciting because that’s when it happens for real, because you actually do partner with employers who are looking to actually hire people.
WOOD:
Yeah, yeah, so we have a variety of businesses, mostly hiring for entry level positions. They come out and they do it right here. We conduct all of our interviews. We have a big schedule set up. And so participants get the opportunity to interview with whichever businesses they want to. So they’re going straight from straight from practice interviews right into those real ones.
O’CONNOR:
And then the final day of the course is called Next Steps.
WOOD:
Mhm. Yeah. So the final day we have businesses give feedback to us about the participants. And so we provide them with that, letting them know if a business is interested in hiring them, what the next steps they should take to follow up. Things like making follow-up calls, continuing on the job search and just keeping that motivation going towards finding a job.
O’CONNOR:
Now, one of the things that the Betty Chinn Foundation supports you on in this program is actually finding clothing for interviews etc. So how does that work?
WOOD:
Yeah, so participants the week before or sometimes the week during the workshops, they actually can come into Betty Chinn’s Attire for Hire clothing closet and they get to pick out one interview outfit that they’ll wear for the interview.
O’CONNOR:
That’s a really great contribution because I think a lot of people feel, perhaps if they have been in a homeless situation, they don’t necessarily have the wherewithal to go and actually interview for jobs. That’s a great component.
WOOD:
Yes. There’s so many different barriers that can come in the job search and actually doing those interviews. So Betty also does a light breakfast and free lunch for the participants, as well as access to showers before the interviews.
O’CONNOR:
Now it is quite limited though, the number. I mean there is a finite space. So how do people sign up for the next course that’s coming up?
WOOD:
So there’s two ways to apply. The first is on our website, uplifteureka.com. The second is filling out an application in person at the Betty Chinn Day Center. We do typically have about 14 people in the program with a max of about 20 participants, so it is fairly easy.
O’CONNOR:
And people do need to commit for the whole four days, don’t they?
WOOD:
Yes, you have to be there all four days.
O’CONNOR:
Now what about some of the other programs that you’re working on right now, Sierra? That you’d like to share with us?
WOOD:
Yeah, so we’ve got some really exciting things coming up. We have our job skills training program, which has been on a break for the past six months or so, but that’s kind of a transitional step to Pathway to Payday. And that’s for people who have maybe been out of the workforce for a long time and are looking to kind of get those job skills that they may be lacking and get other sorts of classroom experience, building a resume, those sorts of steps that are going to prepare them for a full-time job.
O’CONNOR:
And how have you seen actually the benefits so far to the community?
WOOD:
Yeah, yeah, so we actually have a 90 plus percent success rate in our participants either getting a job offer or a second interview and so it is really successful in getting participants those jobs. I think the other benefit as well is just that change in mindset that comes from being in a large group, feeling that motivation of everybody going through those same struggles, just realizing that you do have a lot of value you can have to a job.
O’CONNOR:
Absolutely. Well, Sierra, it’s a great program. Congratulations. When is the next date? Do you have those set yet?
WOOD:
We don’t have the exact dates, but it’ll be late May or early June.
O’CONNOR:
Okay, well I hope you get the same success rate and the same turnout for the next event. Sierra, thank you for joining us for a Humboldt Conversation, really nice to see you again. Thank you so much. Thank you for joining us for another Humboldt Conversation very soon.
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