Before West New York even opened the doors of the new Housing and Employment Center on the bottom floor of the Sunshine Garden apartment building on 54th Street at 9:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, the center was already working to help its residents.
“We haven’t opened our doors yet and we have already placed three people in jobs,” said West New York Mayor Albio Sires at the opening about the three residents that were already placed in positions. “We have hopes of moving much beyond that,” said Bob DiVincent, the executive director of the town’s housing authority.
The center was opened using $50,000 given to the Housing Authority in federal Welfare to Work grants. According to DiVincent, the town’s Housing Authority was one of the four in the state to receive these grants, which are used to help people that are now off welfare and starting to work.
This center is the first of its kind to open in New Jersey through the city’s housing authority.
“It shows the progressive approach of the municipality and the housing authority working together to maximize the resources we have in assisting people with finding new jobs,” said Sires.
The service was put into action almost immediately when Ovidio Restrepo arrived as the doors opened at the center.
Restrepo, a West New York resident, has been collecting unemployment since he was laid off from his position of warehouse manager.
“We need a service like this in the city,” said Restrepo, a father of three who has been out of work for the past three months.
Sires added, “We want to help people get off Welfare and back into the workforce.”
Opening doors
The center, already equipped with computers and located in one of the city’s largest buildings, is planning to double as a job placement and training center.
“We tell people to get off Welfare, but do not offer any solutions,” said DiVincent. “This is a solution.” The center will also have access to The Workforce New Jersey Public Information Network, which is New Jersey’s on-line One Stop Career Center. This web site allows people to find jobs, post resumes and also get career information.
“We will be able to use the system to do job searches throughout the state,” said DiVincent The state is also planning to incorporate some of the resources from the staff at the Department of Labor to perform workshops in resume writing, interviewing skills and computer training.
“This will allow [the center] to grow with the community’s needs,” said DiVincent.
Along with the on-line site, the state also has three centers designated as One-Stop Operation Centers in the area, one in Union City and two in Jersey City.
“We have access to a whole host of services,” said Connie Hughes, the deputy commissioner of the New Jersey State Department of Labor. “It is extremely important that we find employment at every venue.” The One-Step Operations Center for the Hudson County Schools of Technology Career Development Center in Union City, one of the three core one-stop centers designated by the state, is looking to supplement the program.
“We can complement what the center is doing here,” said Steven Smith, the assistant director of the center.
The Union City center holds classrooms with computer space where training classes can be held and counselors and give achievement and career assessment tests there.
“[Career assessment tests] tell counselors which jobs the clients should go after and which ones to stay away from,” explained Smith.
West New York’s center is open Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To contact the center, call the Housing Authority at 868-6100.