A new computer kiosk in Pasco will allow users to browse for work opportunities.
By SAUNDRA AMRHEIN
Published February 14, 2004
LACOOCHEE - Residents of northeast Pasco County now don't have to scour the want ads or drive around looking for "Help Wanted" signs.
They can make one stop at the Lacoochee Neighborhood Center and do it all.
That's because a new computer kiosk provided through Career Central can help residents do a regional and nationwide job search, as well as receive help with their resumes.
The touch-screen kiosk is at the Pasco County Housing Authority's Lacoochee Neighborhood Center, at 20600 Blanchette Court. Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Residents of the entire region are welcome to use the kiosk, said Isa Blanford, family self-sufficiency coordinator for the housing authority.
"We hope to have at least 10-15 people here a week" using it, Blanford said. The kiosk will help residents in a remote and economically depressed part of the county quickly tap employment opportunities.
The machine cost $9,000 to install and operate, said Blake Harding, the one-stop coordinator with Pasco Hernando Jobs and Education Partnership Regional Board, which works with Career Central to provide employment opportunities for the area.
Both are funded through Workforce Florida, a public-private agency that promotes economic development.
The kiosk was a brainchild of the business committee of a redevelopment task force formed last summer following the shooting death of Pasco sheriff's Lt. Charles "Bo" Harrison, Harding said.
The kiosk, set up last week but unveiled Friday, will soon be connected to a modem and half a dozen computers at the center so residents can work on their resumes at the center.
Evelyn Ortiz, 43, says she plans to use the kiosk, which is near her home in the housing complex.
Though a nurse in Puerto Rico, Ortiz said she needs to find any job until she can learn enough English to get back into nursing or study psychology, even if she has to clean dishes.
Before now, she's been forced to drive around looking for places that advertised their openings.
"I believe that it's easier with the computer," she said.
