New Youth Employment Centre in Whitby :

Sep 21, 2006
By David Blumenfeld

WHITBY -- After nearly a year's absence, the Job Connect program is up and running again in Whitby.

The program, which provides youth age 16 to 24 with the tools and resources to find steady employment, has opened an office at 105 Consumers Dr. A previous employment resource centre on Colborne Street was destroyed last year due to fire.

"It's a good thing to get back into Whitby," said Dani Mosey, a staff member at the Job Connect site in Whitby, which is operated by the John Howard Society of Durham Region with funding from the provincial government.

Ms. Mosey, who helps match up youth with prospective employers, said the Job Connect program offers three key services: information and referral service, employment planning and preparation and job placement development.

"It's a really good program to get youth working," she said. "It also meets the hiring needs of the employers in the community."

Other offices, including a site in Oshawa run by Durham College, are located throughout the Region. Ms. Mosey said the program is valuable because it not only helps connect youth with jobs, but also helps them focus and flesh out their long-term career goals.

"It's definitely needed because youth can kind of be at loose ends," she said. "We get quite a few first-time job seekers. Sometimes there could have been a past employment situation that's kind of hampering it, or they could have absolutely no experience at all. It's getting pretty anonymous now to just drop your resume off somewhere."

Ms. Mosey said another initiative of the Job Connect site revolves around hooking up youth with apprenticeships, something they might otherwise not know how to go about successfully. Although the centre is planning to have an official opening sometime in October, it is currently open to youth.

For more information, go to www.jobconnectdurham.org.

Source:

http://www.durhamregion.com/dr/regions/whitby/story/3693931p-4270203c.html