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Copy Shop Provides Homeless People With Job Training, Employment

Posted on: Thursday, 10 November 2005, 09:00 CST

By David McPherson, The Providence Journal, R.I.

Nov. 10--PROVIDENCE -- Until a few months ago, Daniel Howard considered himself a computer illiterate with few job skills.

Now, he's confident, excited and comfortable around a computer.

"I've got plans," Howard declared with a wide smile on his face.

Howard, 38, is one of 10 people taking part in a new vocational program at Crossroads Rhode Island, the agency that serves the state's homeless population.

The new Copy Center at Crossroads is a full-service copy, print and graphics-design shop that will train people such as Howard while also serving business and nonprofit clients. It's located in the basement of the agency's building at 160 Broad St.

"This is an opportunity for me to get employment, get back on my feet again and pursue my dreams," said Howard. He is confident about securing a job when he completes the training program next month and having the money to find a place to live.

"I don't ever want to be homeless again," Howard said.

In the works for more than three years, the copy center began training its first class in September. Yesterday, Crossroads held an open house to celebrate the new center and provide tours to visitors.

Anne M. Nolan, president of Crossroads, said the aim of the copy center is self-sufficiency: both for clients in need of job skills and Crossroads itself.

The students will be trained for a variety of jobs from copy shop machine operator to pressman, and Crossroad estimates they will be able to earn from $12 to $18 an hour.

A job retention specialist will be hired to help place students in jobs and then help keep them.

The agency hopes that within three years the copy center will be profitable and begin to provide financial support to Crossroads, which relies on donations for much of its work.

The copy center's operating budget is expected to be $410,000 in its first full year, with $265,000 in revenue generated by the business and the rest covered by grants. The shop currently employs two people.

About the business venture, Nolan said, "This is our first, but not our last.

"I think people have to get creative about funding these days. But it's not just about funding. It's about teaching people how to be self-sufficient."

Although the copy center has been open only a few months, the person managing it is not worried about a lack of business.

"I'm worried about how much business is out there," said Fred Wolf, an industry veteran who at one time owned a small chain of printing shops, East Side Copy. Already the Copy Center at Crossroads has handled about 50 jobs and heard from businesses interested in employing its graduates, he said.

Wolf started with Crossroads about nine months ago and helped get the program off the ground, developing a business plan and going around to area businesses inquiring about their needs.

The start-up costs -- including equipment and building renovations -- came to about $250,000, Wolf said. Grants from Bank of America, Textron, Sovereign Bancorp and the Rhode Island Foundation helped cover those expenses.

Showing off the all-new equipment -- including an offset press, networked copy machines, computers, folder and collator -- Wolf said, "It's all state of the art."

It is everything a new print shop would want, if it could afford it, he said.

The copy machines, for instance, can convert paper records into digital documents and deliver them electronically.

The access to that technology makes Jon Shockley, like Howard, confident he will able find a job that will keep him from becoming homeless again.

Before starting the training program, the 29-year-old Shockley said, "I really didn't have any career prospects."

He said he enjoys the mix of technical and artistic work that goes into printing and graphic design.

Earlier in life, Shockley said, "I didn't find my niche, but I think I've found it now."

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Copyright (c) 2005, The Providence Journal, R.I.

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Source: Providence Journal

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