Few seats sat empty in a Department of Social Services’ conference room in mid-December. Rows of chairs were filled with community members interested in hearing about the county’s new workforce development program.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Heather Skeens, assistant county manager for community support, said to attendees in a Dec. 13 meeting. “Because what this says to me is we really need this program in our community.”
The program will train unhoused residents and at-risk youth 17 years and older in construction skills. Over three to four months, residents in the program will receive an OSHA 10 workplace safety certification and forklift and manlift training. The program will also provide residents with resume writing and interviewing skills, a professional headshot and financial literacy skills.
Once the training is completed, program participants will be given boots and personal protective equipment like safety vests, hard hats and safety gloves. They will then be placed with trade partners building the county’s Unhoused Support Center, which is expected to open in 2027. Program participants will be paid for any construction work completed on the support center.
The county is partnering with Barr and Barr Construction and McFarland Construction, the two companies heading the construction of the Unhoused Support Center, to operate the program. The construction companies will cover the cost of each program participant’s training, which they expect to be between $3,000 and $4,000 per person. They will also offer mentorship to participants through monthly check-ins during the program and further career development after completion.
The hope is that the program partners will hire participants who they work with during the center’s construction for future projects.
“We’re going to give them the skills,” said Jonathan Best, Diversity & Inclusion Director for Barr and Barr Construction. “And then as they’re on the project site, it’s going to kind of be on them to gain the skills and earn the right to stay or go from temporary to permanent employment.”
Eight program spots are currently available. However, Barr and Barr Construction and McFarland Construction are looking for additional partners to help cover the costs to expand the number of participants.
The county will offer services to ensure residents have the necessary information to fill out the employment eligibility verification I-9 form needed to apply for the program, including helping residents get IDs. Residents must pass a drug screening, which the construction companies say is standard procedure, to be eligible for the program.
The county plans to hold a meeting in January for unhoused residents and at-risk youth to learn more about the workforce development program. Program applications will be available at that meeting.
Barr and Barr Construction, McFarland Construction and the county hope to select individuals to start the program in February, to align with the start of construction on the Unhoused Support Center in early 2025.
Once completed, the Unhoused Support Center will be open 24 hours a day, and seven days a week. It will hold about 157 beds in semi-private spaces to provide shelter for unhoused county residents. Community partners like FTCC will offer programs to individuals who come through the center to help develop the skills needed to reach sustainable housing and permanent employment.
“Stay plugged into this project,” Kirk deViere, chair of the county board of commissioners, said to close the meeting. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, and this is going to take a lot of work from this community to get it right because our community deserves nothing less.”
Community partners with questions about the workforce development program can contact Skeens at hskeens@cumberlandcountync.gov.
CityView Reporter Morgan Casey is a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms. Morgan’s reporting focuses on health care issues in and around Cumberland County and can be supported through the CityView News Fund.
Finally a meaningful program that makes sense and excellent use of public funding. This can generate purpose and pride in ownership for all participants.