Job training helps homeless stitch lives together

Linda, 67, a homeless client at Wai­kiki Health’s Next Step Shelter in Kaka­ako, painstakingly puts the final stitches on a lined purse that she is making in the Sew Awesome job training class.

"I’m hoping it’s going to help me brush up on my sewing skills so that I’ll get the chance to start my own sewing and alterations business," said Linda, who has lived at Next Step since October. "I also want to learn enough so that I can make a wedding dress for my granddaughter. Luckily, she’s only 12 so I have time to learn. We’re both really excited about the possibilities."

Sew Awesome, which debuted in October, is just one of the many job training programs that Wai­kiki Health has implemented since taking over the Next Step Shelter in 2011. One of its main goals is to work with homeless individuals to address their barriers to housing, which include the ability to find stable work and good wages. To that end the shelter’s emphasis on job training services and programs has been growing, said Wai­kiki Health’s director of shelter services, Lambert Lum. Last year the shelter placed 188 clients in job training and services programs as compared with just 93 in 2013. In addition to expanding job services, the shelter also added an employment specialist to its staff.

"Next Step will continue to expand its job training programs this year and work on developing more partnerships in the community for employment opportunities," Lum said. "We’ve also started English as a Second Language classes and begun offering financial literacy classes."

The Sew Awesome class, which was funded by grants from the Walmart Foundation, Cooke Foundation and Atherton Foundation, kicked off with 11 students. Upon completion of the 12-week class, the students will receive certificates, and a job training specialist will work to help them find jobs within the manufacturing industry. The program builds on similar work being down through the job training partnership between Next Step and the Hawaii Community Development Authority, which was expanded last year.

Next Step residents who participate in the HCDA-funded job training program are also paid $10 an hour for 19 hours a week to provide landscaping, trash collection, janitorial services and beautification services throughout HCDA-owned parks in the Kaka­ako Community Development District. In addition, HCDA funds a security deposit matching program, which sets aside $10,000 to help secure rental units for job training participants.

Colin Kippen, chairman of the Hawaii Interagency Council on Homelessness and state homeless coordinator, said, "What is unique about these programs is that they are targeted to serve those homeless individuals who are living in the Kakaako area by the community agency located there. I applaud HCDA’s efforts."

Lindsey Doi, HCDA’s compliance assurance and community outreach officer, said the partnership is a way for HCDA to commit to being part of a communitywide solution to end homelessness.

"Homelessness is not just one person’s problem. It’s a communitywide program. We are trying to do our part," Doi said.

Sew Awesome instructor Cathy Agor said she knows firsthand the importance that job training can make in the lives of homeless participants.

"My husband was once homeless, so when he was alive we always tried to help out," she said. "After he died, this was my way of giving back. I’m hoping to teach my students basic skills that they can use to do their own sewing repairs or on the job."

James Kualau and his partner, CeCe Inere, who supervise the HCDA job training program, were once Next Step residents.

"The jobs training program helped us get our own housing," said Inere, who along with Kua­lau leads a Next Step team in beautifying Kaka­ako and spreading the word about the shelter’s services to those who are living in the community’s parks and on streets and sidewalks.

"It makes me very proud when I see someone else make it," Kua­lau said. "You can’t force people, but I always hope that they are going to make it."