PPL to host employment services Open House Nov. 28

By MARGIE O’LOUGHLIN

Project for Pride in Living (PPL) will be hosting a community Open House promoting its new Employment Services at Hamline Station on Tues., Nov. 28 from 3–6pm. Located on the ground floor of PPL’s Hamline Station, 1305 University Ave. W., their services are available to the greater community. All of the services provided there are confidential, free of charge, and tailored to fit individual needs. Participants must be 18 years of age or older.

Photo right: Employment specialist Addriana Her (left) and employment technology manager Angie Willardson (right) outside the office of PPL’s Hamline Station Employment Services. Their organization provides one-on-one, confidential, coaching-based employment and financial services at no charge. (Photo by Margie O’Loughlin)

Regular hours of operation for the Employment Services Center are Mondays from 9am-4pm and Tuesdays from 1-8pm. During those times, employment specialist Addriana Her is available to help clients write or update their resume, learn to conduct a job search, and develop better interviewing skills.

Her explained, “We aren’t just about helping you get a job here, we’re about helping you keep a job. We provide retention services for 12 months. That means that at three, six and twelve months, one of us will call or email you to see how your new job is going. We’re able to provide a $10 bus or gas card at the time of hire, and at each of these retention check-ins.”

“People have a lot of questions once they’ve been in a job for a while,” Her said. “Questions like, ‘I want more hours, but my employer isn’t giving them to me. What should I do? Or, I’ve gotten enough experience in this line of work. How do I move on?’ We can help with skills assessments and interest inventories whether you’re choosing or changing a career path. We can also assist in finding resources like child care, transportation, work clothing or needed tools through some of our many community connections.” Her can be reached at 612-455-5291 for more information, or to schedule an appointment.

Employment specialist Rachel Moran manages the WOIA Adult Program. This program provides funding for short-term training leading to certifications in healthcare, manufacturing, construction, information technology, and administrative jobs. These five areas currently have a high demand for employees. Acceptance into the WOIA Adult Program requires income eligibility and circumstances of being either unemployed or underemployed. Moran can be reached at 612-455-.5314 for more information, or to schedule an appointment.

In addition to employment coaching, the Hamline Station Employment Services has a financial coach on-site on Tuesdays from 4-8pm. Dar Sengkhammee can help clients create a personal budget, work on reducing debt, review credit scores, and clarify financial goals. He can be reached at 612-455-5292 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

Angie Willardson is the employment technology manager for Hamline Station Employment Services. “There is a docking station here with 12 computers for client use,” she explained. “We have the technology to support a first-class job search, using our ‘Talent Neuron’ database. It can pull from all job-search engines at the same time. We can customize a client’s job-search very specifically and efficiently, but most importantly, we can personalize the process for you. We’re a small staff, and we strive to build rapport with our clients. We want to serve as many people as possible, providing the very best practices of employment and financial coaching.”

There are always two people working during the hours that Employment Services is open at PPL’s Hamline Station. Appointments are encouraged, but drop-ins are also welcome. On-street parking is available just east of Hamline and north of University avenues, and the office is easily accessed by bus and train.