You never used a computer before.... ever?

After the 4th of July holiday, these last two days really felt like a chore! Everyone seemed more drained than they had earlier in the week, and most of Thursday felt like a Monday! Yesterday morning I went to another shelter to explain the Ready to Work program to more individuals living there, again searching for motivation more than anything. Kenneth, who I am of course excited to take into the program, was so enthusiastic about making his life better for himself, learning the skills needed to use a computer or work with maintenance, and basically take advantage of every opportunity he is given. As we talked I could tell how nervous he was about the program because it is intimidating—imagine how difficult it must be to admit that you need help to even get the basic skills required to make a livable wage. Not to mention, this man has never used a computer before. This is something that I find difficult to grasp entirely, simply because I was raised on a computer, but I cannot even imagine how scary it would be to learn something so common (seriously, how many people do you know who have NEVER used a computer for anything?) yet still extremely new and probably confusing. My heart really went out to this guy (I can picture Lenny shaking his head at me now….) because he really does seem so motivated to help himself out, to make a difference in his life and better himself in the long run. I kept telling him that I really thought if he stayed motivated he could get through this program and we could find him a great job that he was happy with and that paid the rent—I really believe that. To some extent I think he needed to hear that reassurance out loud, and I think he will stay motivated.
After that meeting I sat in on Esther’s WIN and ONET assessments. She did pretty well on the math assessment, but needs remediation for the reading ones. Unfortunately she ended up with a 0 on the reading for information assessment by accidentally clicking the wrong button at one point, so she has to retake that test entirely! She completed most of her alchemy core this morning, so now she just has to complete some remediation, digital literacy, and then finally the WorkKeys test! I enjoy working with her a lot though, and the longer I have been working with her the more I think she is just a great person in general. She wants to get into a social work type position (particularly with drug and alcohol abuse prevention), and she is so sociable and easy to talk with that I think she will really contribute a lot to that field. Not to mention, the greatest type of support you can provide is speaking from first hand experience from someone who has worked their way out of that situation. It is funny though, because I think she has really blown away a lot of my stereotypes about people coming from prison, the homeless, or even recovering drug addicts—prejudices I didn’t even know I held until I was talking with her and realized how surprised I was by some of the things she was telling me. Listening to her talk about her concerns about her child, enjoying the shows in Binns Park, and even eating certain meals or enjoying certain restaurants or TV shows, I am realizing how much this woman just made a few bad decisions in her life but she is not a bad person. She wanted to make a difference in her life, and now she has had the opportunity to do that!
I met with Debbie, another customer, for orientation this morning. We got her enrolled on CareerLink and set her up with a functional resume, but the real part of Ready to Work starts on Thursday with the WIN, Digital Literacy, and ONET assessment. Debbie is married with two children to support, and has her high school diploma and experience as a cashier and sales associate. She originally was interested in computer graphics and completed a lot of classes on computer graphics and design during high school, but is now interested in clerical or reception work. In general, computers have advanced significantly since she last used one on a regular basis so it would take a good bit of time and energy to catch up in that field. Hopefully she can stay motivated through the program!