By Joyce Kryszak
Buffalo, NY – A new collaboration with Goodwill Industries of Buffalo and the Buffalo City Mission will let the Olmsted Parks Conservancy focus on training parks workers instead of weeding out applications.
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Until now the Conservancy has been screening about 80 applicants a month to work in the parks. The applicants are sent over by the county's work fair program. The Conservancy trains about four hundred people a year who are looking for a fresh start. But they go through many wrong picks before finding those who are best suited to parks work.
A two-year, $100,000 grant from the Oishei Foundation lets Goodwill hire an extra person to take over that task. Goodwill president Florence Conti said it is what they do best. She said they will evaluate applicants and send over only those who ar4e "work-ready."
That makes it doubly good news for the Conservancy. Thomas Herrera-Mishler is president and chief executive officer for the Conservancy. He said they are happy to give a second chance to people who have fallen on hard times or those in recovery who are rebuilding their lives. The Buffalo City Mission also is sending potential workers over to Goodwill for evaluation. Herrera-Mischler said this gives all of them the best possible start.
And the Conservancy is not just training people to cut grass and do weeding. The Conservancy needs workers skilled in everything from Japanese gardening to small engine repair. Stuart Harper is Executive Director for the Buffalo City Mission. Harper said the program helps people find their niche.
The first group of applicants from the City Mission were already evaluated by Goodwill and begin training with the Conservancy today.