An unusual job placement program that has worked for hundreds of people in Charlottesville is now expanding to other parts of the state.
Four years ago, in partnership with Piedmont Virginia Community College, Network2Work brought employers and job seekers together with those who could support them.
“They may need skills at the community college," says Founder Ridge Schuyler. "They may need to get their car repaired so that they can make it back and forth to training and to work, or they may need legal assistance, so the provider network wraps services around the job-seeker so they can get the skills to get the skills and supports they need to get that quality job.”
He says the program has now served more than 900 people.
“The folks that we touch who complete our program, 85% of them find quality employment. Fifty-nine percent of the jobs they find pay $25,000 or or more, which is kind of the very bare minimum you need to start launching yourself into the middle class.”
One key to their success, is a network of community volunteers who get news about jobs on their smartphones.
“They live in our neighborhoods, and they are the folks who just know everybody," Schuyler explains. "Every community has these people – the folks that others turn to for information and advice. They get real time job information and can stop and think: ‘Who do I know who would be good at that job?’”
The state has given Network2Work $1.7 million to expand a pilot program into the Shenandoah Valley, Richmond and Hampton Roads.
