Charles Lee of Amityville said before landing a spot in Island Harvest’s newly launched jobs training program, “I was giving up a little bit” on work prospects..
Lee, 51, who said he is going through treatment for substance abuse, described how the instructors and organizers behind the food bank’s new Workforce Skills Development Institute made it clear to him and the nine other students of the inaugural class that failure was not an option. The support he received has given him a new lease on life, he said.
Lee had previously worked as a delivery driver for a laundry service on Long Island, but lost the job roughly two weeks before the start of Island Harvest’s workforce program because the business didn’t have enough work for him.
WHAT TO KNOW
- Island Harvest graduated 10 students in its new job training program.
- The program’s training focuses on expanding opportunities in warehouse work.
- The food bank organization plans to continue offering courses multiple times a year.
The roughly six-week paid training course, geared toward teaching job skills for warehouse and logistics work, launched on Jan. 9. Island Harvest celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of trainees at a ceremony in Melville Friday morning.
The 130-hour training course requires participants to meet in person Monday through Friday, participate in classwork as well as hands-on training for jobs such as forklift driving, and make regular field trips to learn from warehouse workers at Amazon, Stop & Shop and DiCarlo Food Distributors.
Through state grants, and donations from Bank of America as well as other businesses, the institute offers trainees stipends for child care and transportation, as well as a $15 per hour stipend for attending training. The aim is to ensure participants can focus on the course and not financial strains.
As a newly minted graduate, Lee said he’s on a path to greater career opportunities and he feels much more confident in…
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