East Palo Alto’s work for 60 years

Despite migration in the United States as a university professor and journalist, Christopher Luna felt “so lost” when he arrived, he said.

As a person with communications training, not being able to speak English was all the more difficult, said Luna – until he entered a job center in the south of San Francisco. With the help of his staff, he was able to start learning English and finally started working for the non -profit organization.

His journey, migrating to the United States and receiving the help of Jobtrain, allows him to sympathize with the people with whom he works today, as a specialist in employment services at the North Fair Oaks Jobtrain Career Center.

“I can see myself with each person I work with,” said Luna, who is entirely reserved every day, consulting residents who are looking for a job.

But his experience is not uncommon; In fact, it is quite common for Jobtrain to have a name for the people she hires thanks to her help – “local tomatoes”.

Jobtrain, a career development organization that started East Palo Alto and developed in the Bay region, celebrated 60 years of service during a fundraising event on the morning of April 30.

Jobtrain's philosophy is to directly connect people who are unemployed or who seek to change their career path with local businesses and professionals, in order to find out about a job, then find a job. In 1965, the pastor of East Palo Alto, John Sweeny, adopted the idea of ​​a Philadelphia Reverend who described him as “win-win” for the industries who need workers and people who need work.

And 60 years later, the model served residents of the peninsula, including those who do not have high school diplomas as well as those who have advanced university degrees. The program extended from East Palo Alto to Menlo Park, Redwood City, South San Francisco, San Jose and Half Moon Bay, as well as various training possibilities in the Bay region.

Jobtrain provides curriculum vitae assistance, job search assistance, employment training, career exploration and general support services that could help people to obtain commercial licenses or even actions as simple as using Google Maps for management, said Luna.

The main locations of Menlo Park serve as a Jobtrain head office, offering regular training routes that refuse and flow with the labor market. More recently, Jobtrain added real estate management to its program offers in order to link more residents to the local affordable housing industry; The program was so popular that the officials asked Jobtrain to provide service to Oakland.

The program specifically targets people living in unstable housing conditions, Barrie Hathaway, CEO of Jobtrain, said in an interview with this publication. In this way, he said, they can learn the skills they need to find accommodation, then help others in the future.

“Their lived experience is so useful in this work that employers want to hire someone with lived experience,” said Hathaway.

Currently, Jobtroin also offers construction, CVC, nursing, technology and culinary training routes among others. Although, as the demand for non -profit services increases, the same goes for more physical space to accommodate residents, who have manifested themselves in the form of “career centers”.

The location of Menlo Park in Jobtrain, an economical and employment center, is its main training base, but “career centers” act as departure points for people interested in assistance. The North Fair Oaks career center is the most recent location in Jobtrain, built about eight months ago.

Those who enter the building can confuse it with a community center rather than an office. With a large open space in the main room, residents mix with staff. There is a kitchenette and play areas for children.

The center often serves as a “more than a simple career center,” said Esmeralda Cerrato, regional director of Jobtrain and “Local tomato”.

“People who have no job are often faced with other obstacles, whether access to a hot plate of food or housing challenges,” she said, while crossing the building. “Here we provide these enveloping services.”

In fact, she and her colleagues have even entertained children who come for the services, said Cerrato.

In a game of Redwood City nicknamed “Little Michoacan”, for her large number of Mexican state residents, she said that people feel comfortable asking for help, even under a current federal administration that has targeted immigrant communities.

Many residents of Redwood City are specifically interested in continuing their own trades, in construction, jewelry manufacturing or house cleaning, which is why the location has a partnership with Renaissance, a local non -profit organization that helps people create their own companies. To further support this work, the Center also organizes career fairs that interview Spot and Pop-Up stores, like its next “Mama bonita»Event, a Mother's Day market where residents will sell handmade items on May 8 and 9 at the Redwood City Jobtrain office.

Often, the jobtrain will be associated with organizations in order to obtain more funding for its services. For example, the California Employment Development Department has teamed up with the non -profit organization in the past and can continue as an implementation of employment eyes.

Currently, Jobtrain seeks to build an even larger new head office in East Palo Alto, which has already been Approved by the municipal council.

Although the future is not completely placed in stone, CEO Hathaway sees regional expansion in the future. He also promises to remain frugal and create a “solid base,” he said.

“We are in conversations on the move to East Bay in a more robust way,” said Hathaway. “We would also like to see our programs in more areas of the County of Santa Clara, and I think that for the next three years, which is the duration of our current strategic plan, this is where we will concentrate our energies.”

Aside from his strategic plan, Hathaway qualified Jobtrain as a “centered heart” service that seeks to develop where it is necessary.

“We have to believe the people who come to us,” said Hathaway. “We must have respect for them. We must understand their value. We have to move without judgment. I don't care about where you were, do you where you want to be. ”

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