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WILKES-BARRE — Michael Ford remembers being one night away from losing his apartment.
Fearful, but determined to find employment and income, the 58-year-old made his way to the Mature Worker Program on State Street, equipped with two characteristics that have served him well: a willingness to work and a good attitude.
Sponsored by the Area Agency on Aging for Luzerne-Wyoming Counties and funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor through the National Council on Aging Inc., the program provided an opportunity for Ford to get experience, training and confidence working at a local nonprofit.
Now a full-time employee of the Commission on Economic Opportunity where he started working in July, Ford said he was “willing to do whatever was asked” and was hired as a regular employee.
Now, he bears a ready smile and an encouraging word for others.
“Beautiful, just beautiful,” he said of his experience in the program.
The Mature Worker Program, he said, “works if you work it,” referring to training programs, attendance requirements and other directives that prepare older people for paid employment.
Ford said income from employment has made it possible for him to have a warm place to live, enough food to eat and, most importantly, quality relationships with other people.
“At one point, I was in a really dark place,” he said. “Thank God I believe in God or I don’t know how I would have gotten through.”
Now doing maintenance at CEO’s site in Wilkes-Barre and Pittston, Ford doesn’t simply spend his time, he invests it in his own life and in the lives of others.
Jean Lonsdale, 61, shares Ford’s enthusiasm for the benefits of the program.
In 2012, she chose to retire from her position at the American Red Cross so she could give time and attention to her granddaughter, Scarlett, now 7, whom she is raising.
The next few years provided an opportunity for her to spend quality time with Scarlett, but Lonsdale realized she had a continuing financial need that wasn’t being met. A few part-times jobs didn’t work out.
“I wanted to be happy at my job,” she said. “And I wanted to continue to be available to my granddaughter. If she’s sick or she has an appointment, I need to be there.”
At a job fair sponsored by the program, Lonsdale had an opportunity to interview with representatives from WVIA who were immediately impressed with her skills and demeanor.
Now working full time at the station where she oversees pledge renewals, she said couldn’t be happier with her duties, her location and her supervisors.
She set a record for new pledges in November. Again, always ready to be part of a bigger picture.
“This weekend WVIA is having a tea and I’ll be bringing my granddaughter,” she said. “She’s so excited. She’s already getting ready for it.”
Ford and Lonsdale are evidence that Denise Hatcher, acting project director of the program, shares in the victories of program participants.
“These are our superstars,” she said of the two.
She also greatly credits Gail Sheridan, 63, a participant doing her training at the program’s office along with about five others with helping make the program work.
“She’s like my right-hand person,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without her.”
Sheridan describes the work environment as “family” with employees always ready to help each other, making the environment positive and productive.
She is hoping to get hired as a regular employee of the program, but knows she now has confidence and the ability to move forward with whatever happens.
Sheridan said the program is much more than an opportunity for people to get jobs. It’s an opportunity for participants to change their lives.
“I remember one gentleman came in and, during intake, he wouldn’t even look up,” she said. “After a few weeks, he had a job and he couldn’t stop smiling.”
One participant, Hatcher said, was over 90 and worked to make money to buy prescriptions.
“We placed him and they couldn’t have been happier with him,” she said. “He answered the phone and worked well with others.”
The over 100 participants presently enrolled provide a variety of resources for area employers.
“We’ve had engineers, accountants and teachers,” said Hatcher. “There are so many quality people here.”
Lonsdale not only found a job when she went through the front door of the program, she found a new way of life.
Sitting at her new desk at her new job in front of the window where she enjoys seeing deer, turkey and other wildlife, she has a plaque that reads, “Life is a camera, just focus on what’s important and capture the good times. And, if things don’t turn out, just take another shot” — a slogan which, she said, is what the Mature Worker Program is all about.
