"Look not every man on his own things; but every man also on the things of others." Philippians 2:4

       Friendship Helping Ministries
Workforce Vocational Development Program

FHM’s Workforce Development Philosophy:

Friendship Helping Ministries workforce development program serves three

primary purposes: 1) to help under-represented and economically disadvantaged populations of people obtain access to employment skills that will help them become employees or entrepreneurs, 2)  to utilize the workforce we train help us meet our

own division of labor needs in reference to developing self-sustaining organizational  income, and, 3) to promote a more sustainable physical environment as a result of removing solid wastes (such as: white appliances, desktop computers, and office and household furniture ) from the waste stream through our recycling, vocational skills development training program and resale activities related to working with these products.

Where do the products we recycle derive from?:

Friendship Helping Ministries receives salvageable white appliances, desktop computers and household and office furniture through corporate, small business and private donations.

Who refers interested adults to our Workforce Vocational Development Training Program?:

Referrals to Friendship Helping Ministries Workforce Vocational Development Training Program may derive from the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services,

NC Vocational Rehabilitation Division, Goodwill Industries, or other nonprofit social services organizations that have a vested interest in preventive or educational social services. Before acceptance into the program, all referred clientele must complete the following: 1) a basic academic and vocational aptitude test, 2) obtain a letter of referral

to the program  from a professional source with a vested interest in the student’s vocational training opportunity,  3) complete a two page essay in reference to their plans regarding specific vocational skills training and future vocational goals, and, 4) attend a

a personal interview with their prospective vocational mentor. If referred clientele do not complete the requisite pre-assessment process for entry into the program, then they will not receive admittance into the program. Our workforce vocational development program does not teach motivation skills it teaches vocational skills. Therefore, those with the appropriate set of motivation, aptitude and vocational skills will obtain admittance to the program.

                                        Workforce Development Programs:

Appliance Repair:

Over a 10 week period of time, students learn how to identify and repair mechanical and electronic issues with the following white appliances: electric dryers, stoves, washer and refrigerators. Also, students learn the art of cosmetically refurbishing white appliances. Some repair skills learned in relation to white appliances are as follows: timer and agitator issues, switch issues, motor, belt, and drum issues and heating element issues.

Desktop Computer Upgrading:

Over a 10 week period, students learn the basics associated with upgrading desktop computers in preparation for market resale. Students learn the following skills in reference to learning how to upgrade desktop computers: memory installation, cd-rom writer installation, dvd installation, wireless router installation, hard drive installation, modem installation, operating system installation, other software installation, etc.

Furniture Refinishing:

Over a 10 week period of time, students learn how to rebuild and refinish office and household furniture. Students learn the following skills in reference to furniture rebuilding/refinishing: cleaning, patching, structure replacement, sanding, re-sanding, staining and poly coating.

Adult Computer Literacy Training:

Over a ten week period of time, adult students learn basic computer literacy skills associated with customer service, data entry and research support positions. Students learn the following skills: internet research skills, cutting and pasting documents, multiple file and folder creation and management, keyboard and tool bar shortcuts, the Windows XP operating system, and creating and using Tables and Excel spreadsheets to account for pertinent data.

Friendship Helping Ministries Future Workforce Vocational Development Program Goals:

Friendship Helping Ministries desires to expand the capacity of our workforce vocational development program to find entry level work opportunities for graduating students

or refer them to additional training programs where they can have access to other training opportunities, earn relevant vocational certifications or earn higher education degrees.  Our program serves not only as a basic vocational skills acquisition program in relevant areas where graduating students can find employment opportunities ( either as employees or entrepreneurs ), but it also serves as a jump start encouragement program for helping under-represented and economically disadvantaged populations realize they can obtain and achieve viable vocational and educational skills necessary for self-sustenance.

We hope by the end of 2006, we can graduate 150-200 adults a year annually through our workforce development program and refer them all toward employment or additional relevant vocational training opportunities. 

Interested Candidates or Contracting Agencies can Contact us at:

Friendship Helping Ministries
PO Box 19715
Charlotte, NC 28219
704-377-8614

www.fhmnc.org

Attn: Workforce Development Vocational Training Opportunities