Transitional Jobs
Consider the impact of growing up in a home with no working adults as role models. Or navigating a three year hole in your work history from your period of incarceration. Imagine getting hooked on drugs or alcohol in middle school, fighting for years to maintain your sobriety as a young adult, and being denied job interviews because of mistakes you are trying to leave behind you.
These are just some of the barriers that women transitioning into the work force for the first time, and/or returning to the community from incarceration, may face when trying to enter (or re-enter) the workforce. VWW has been offering job-training and educational programs to women for over twenty years, including ten years of programming inside Vermont’s correctional facilities.
Our programs offer an employment training model that responds to these barriers – a model that offers women in the Chittenden County and Central Vermont areas with limited or troubled work histories and significant employment barriers an alternative entry into the workforce. Transitional jobs offer women transitioning from welfare or incarceration assistance in finding supported, structured, part-time employment while gaining employment skills, building confidence, and developing relationships in the work world.
At the core of the program is an intentional, ongoing collaboration between VWW and local employers. VWW offers on-going training and support to program participants before, during, and after participants find employment. Local employers with the capacity to hire trainees with limited work experience and/or identified employment barriers are matched with motivated workers who are ready to learn and have the supportive services of Vermont Works for Women behind them.
These employment opportunities are generally temporary, last from three to six months, are part-time to accommodate immediate commitments to family or required substance abuse or counseling programs, and serve as a stepping stone to full-time, sustained employment. An essential underpinning of the program is that with training, determination, and structured support, every participant can be successful in the workplace.
We are excited to welcome Vermont Works for Women and their Transitional Jobs program into our Creative Workforce Solutions (CWS) initiative. Vermont Works for Women is uniquely qualified to provide support and guidance to Vermont women who need to transition to the world of work. We see the Transitional Jobs Program as a key cog in the CWS “wheel” and look forward to this new and innovative partnership.- Hugh Bradshaw
Contact Louise Mastin at 655-8900 ext. 503.
The Transitional Jobs Program in Central Vermont is made possible through funding from: Creative Workforce Solutions and VocRehab Vermont.
The Transitional Jobs Program in Chittenden County is supported by: Citizens Bank, Creative Workforce Solutions, KeyBank, The Hendrickson Family Foundation, United Way of Chittenden County, US Department of Labor, Vermont Department of Labor, Vermont Humanities Council and VocRehab Vermont.
