Career Center needs to stay

To the Editor:

I am writing because I have heard that, due to lack of funding, the Career Center in South Paris, operated by Western Maine Community Action, is scheduled to close by the end of August. There are several important reasons why this cannot be allowed to happen.

I am a previous TANF recipient who utilized the Career Center to apply for work, to apply for college, to get help with a resume, and to seek out training and employment opportunities over the past 10 years, and now I am a professional in the Oxford Hills community who has seen and experienced the necessity of the services which the Career Center provides.

I worked for eight years at the Western Maine University and Community College Center while I was pursuing my education, which includes the University of Maine System, the Maine Community College System and the Career Center.

The overarching objective of this unique partnership, brought into being by Rick Bennett, Marjorie Medd and supported by Senator Olympia Snowe, is to help others to meet their educational and vocational goals. I now work for the General Assistance Program administered through the Department of Health and Human Services through the towns of Norway and South Paris.

I have spent my entire life in the Oxford Hills.

I graduated from Oxford Hills High School in 1988, and thanks in part to many social services and programs, such as those that people can get referrals to and information about at Maine Career Centers, I was able to get my BS in Mental Health and Human Services from the University of Maine at Augusta.

[I got] my MS in Adult Education and Higher Learning from the University of Southern Maine, so I can say that the Career Center helped me personally to develop from an unemployed TANF recipient to an educated, employed professional with a strong desire to give back to the community.

As you know, there is a push in many publicly funded programs in Maine and in the rest of the country to get people off from social service programs and into the work force.

Being a person who has grown up in this economically challenged area of the state, I am concerned and scared.

Because this particular area of the state is so economically challenged, many people lack the resources to do an effective job search on their own, or a place where they can go to find out about other programs that foster independence such as the University of Maine System, the Community College System, the Maine Educational Opportunity Center, Vocational Rehabilitation, and Veteran’s Services, to name a few.

Organizations such as Workforce Opportunities, the National Able Network, or the Social Security Administration.

Without our local Career Center, citizens, job seekers and consumers would have difficulty in finding a meeting place where people can meet with service representatives that can help them apply to and complete these employment and training programs, and where representatives of these agencies and organizations can have access to their clients, other workers, and have the use of office space and equipment such as internet, phones, and faxes to transmit information electronically and confidentially.

In my current position as General Assistance Administrator, I impose requirements on applicants to actively seek work in order to receive benefits. Many people in the population that we serve are unable to afford computers or internet access for their homes, which severely hampers their ability to seek employment.

These same people often experience transportation challenges as well, which can inhibit their ability to drive to Career Centers in other towns such as Rumford or Lewiston. If the South Paris Career Center closes, I will no longer be able to mandate that GA applicants register for job search and placement assistance, or complete job searches which require on-line application processes, which means that people would be able to claim benefits based upon their inability to apply for work any other way.

Many stores such as WalMart or Cumberland Farms or even McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts require that people apply for jobs on-line, and many potential applicants in the Oxford Hills area do not have the resources to do this, or the technical expertise to complete an online job application, to set up an e-mail or to submit a resume for an available position.

Many people who are on unemployment have to make phone calls or submit documentation in order to maintain eligibility for assistance. These are ways which the Career Center staff was able to help unemployed or underemployed people that would no longer be available if the South Paris Career Center were to close.

If the South Paris Career Center closes, our community will be adversely impacted. This impact will be felt on many levels, individuals, local business, and municipal and government agencies, and we will be severely hampered in our efforts to facilitate independence in our citizens who need it the most.

Please help us keep the South Paris Career Center open. The cost of the lease, the staff and the office equipment is minimal compared to the value of the services the Career Center provides.

Thank you.

Shannon L. Moxcey

General Assistance Administrator

Norway and South Paris