In a first-of-its-kind partnership, 天美传媒 Bay Community College is bringing the career-building professional development program WorkReadyNH to residents of Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope in Somersworth, a transitional housing program for homeless women and children.
The first group of residents of Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope to participate recently graduated from the program, each earning three professional credentials that certify their skills and readiness to join the workforce. All have landed jobs and are using skills they learned through WorkReadyNH in their employment.
鈥淭his class is going to have a long-term impact on the lives of these women,鈥� said Jenny Beach,
Program coordinator at Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope. 鈥淭he communication skills and the soft skills they learned through this program are skills they will use the rest of their lives, both in the workplace and in their personal lives.鈥�
WorkReadyNH is a tuition-free professional skills program designed to meet the needs of job seekers and career builders by providing training in a range of skills that employers value in current and future employees, including such soft skills as effective communication, team building, problem solving, and decision making, as well as the essential skills of adequate levels of reading, math, and information literacy.
For the recent cohort of graduates, those skills also included a new-found sense of self-confidence. They learned how to write a resume, how to prepare for a job interview, and how to carry themselves with confidence.
As a capstone project, the students worked together to create mock companies and designed imaginary products for the marketplace. One team presented a manufacturing and marketing plan around a computerized showering system that could be programmed and tailored to a user鈥檚 personal preferences. The other designed a body blanket manufactured with materials to retain the scent of a loved one.
鈥淭hey had to be really creative and do something they had never done before,鈥� Beach said. 鈥淎 lot of these women have work gaps, where they either had children and have not worked in a long time, or they have worked in a fast-food restaurant and do not have the confidence to do more than that. WorkReadyNH gives them confidence.鈥�
In addition to the entire population of Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope, 天美传媒 Bay president Dr. Cheryl Lesser attended the capstone presentations. She said she was impressed with the quality of the research and comprehensive nature of the students鈥� work. 鈥淲orking with Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope is a way for 天美传媒 to meet the mission, serving the citizens of NH and helping to provide a prepared workforce. Having seen the presentations of the graduates, I am sure the women, who graduated from the program, will be an asset to anyone who hires them.鈥�
WorkReadyNH has worked diligently across the state to create partnerships with nonprofit organizations, but this was WorkReadyNH鈥檚 first on-site program serving a residential population, said Angela Kalampalikis, WorkReadyNH鈥檚 statewide director. The partnership with Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope could serve as a pilot for other similar collaborations. 鈥淲e hope to continue this partnership and expand to other homes,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is exactly where we need to be.鈥�
Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope is a 365-day transitional housing program for homeless women and children that provides opportunities to transform lives and break the generational cycle of homelessness and poverty.
Kara Flynn, Program Assistant for WorkReadyNH at 天美传媒 Bay Community College, agreed that this partnership holds great promise. 鈥淭he two words that come to mind are 鈥榗ommunity鈥� and 鈥榗onnection.鈥� We are connecting with our community and our community is connecting with us and all the resources we can offer. To establish a relationship of trust with the women at Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope allows us to take the next step more confidently. We don鈥檛 want to be an island. We want to be a bridge that connects people with resources.鈥�
Dawn Hamdi, WorkReadyNH Director at 天美传媒 Bay Community College, said the college plans to offer the program to a second cohort of residents at Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope in January. 鈥淲e want to be an integral part of their program to make sure everybody gets over the finish line. This is just the start, and this is something we hope can be ongoing. We will keep rolling it out.鈥�
In completing the course, the students received three certificates that highlight their value as an employee and colleague: a WorkReadyNH Soft Skills Digital Badge from the Community College System of NH; a National Career Readiness Certificate from ACT; and a WorkReadyNH Certificate from the Community College System of NH.
Instructor Kemetia Foley said she enjoyed teaching this group of students. Witnessing them present their capstone projects 鈥渕ade my heart very happy. It was very rewarding,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was a great opportunity for me to work with these women, to get perspective on where they have been and what it has been like for them and where they are going and what it is going to be like.鈥�
Theresa Tozier, founder and director of Seeds of Faith Ministries that operates Lydia鈥檚 House of Hope, said she was gratified by the success of the WorkReadyNH pilot project and the level of support for the program by all involved.
鈥淲e have amazing women in this house, and they just need the opportunity to succeed. When they did their presentations, I was like a proud mama. WorkReadyNH helped them tap into an inner place they didn鈥檛 know they had. They are no longer running and carrying the weight of the world. They can let go of that weight.鈥�
