Winter 2018 Newsletter – Career Academy

UNION SETTLEMENT CHRONICLE – WINTER 2018

Union Settlement’s Career Academy serves young adults aged 17-24 who are neither working nor in school. The Academy helps individuals with poor work histories and other complex barriers to employment (such as criminal justice system involvement and housing instability) improve their ability to competitively enter and remain in the workforce. This is accomplished through a series of workshops covering essential job search and life skills, mock interviews, individual counseling, job placement assistance and follow-up retention services.

Established in 2013 with funding from Robin Hood, Career Academy continues to grow through new and stronger partnerships with employers, service providers and educators. We are building programs that are responsive to the labor market and are giving our young adults the skills, training and certifications that today’s employers demand.

“A huge reason our program is so successful is that we take a ‘meet them where they are approach to build a solid rapport that allows for positive relationships, which leads to better understood and informed career research and preparation for our young adults,” says Daniel Agosto, Program Director for Career Academy.

He added, “While I’m always proud that our participants do all they can to enter into and successfully complete our programming, I’m most proud when they bring close friends and family to enroll in our workforce development program and remark on how we helped them in ways others didn’t or when they say, ‘They actually care about you here.’ For me, that’s a true mark of success.”