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Putting experience to work

A federally funded program retrains seniors, then redeploys them to the working world.

By AMBER MOBLEY
Published February 3, 2006

	[Times photos: Mike Pease]
	Juan Batista, left and Jorge Garcia, right, work on the food preparation line at the J.L. Young apartment complex. Batista and Garcia are in the AARP program that places seniors with non-profit organizations that train them.
	Viola Utley, seated, goes over office paperwork with Edna Portugues, at the AARP Senior Service Employment office in Carrollwood.

CARROLLWOOD - In a matter of months, Edna Portugues, 62, went from being independent to dependent.

She lost her job when the doctor's office where she worked downsized. Then she lost her apartment and had to move in with a daughter.

"It got bad," Portugues said. Rifling for a job turned up openings she couldn't fill. Jobs available in Brandon were only accessible by an hourslong bus ride, because Portugues is blind in one eye and can't drive.

Still, she wanted to work. She needed to work to feel "significant," she said, and to help out with bills.

Viola Utley, 62, is all too familiar with Portugues' predicament.

When her disability checks could no longer cover her monthly expenses, Utley found herself depending on loans to cover expenses.

"I'd borrow the money. Pay it back. Borrow money. Pay it back."

Utley looked for work. But despite four decades in the computer industry, she couldn't find a job.

"It's like when you hit 50, they put a label on you," Utley said. "You're a senior citizen, and you can't do anything."

While the two women's problems differ, their solution is the same: on-the-job training through the Senior Community Service Employment Program.

Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and administered by AARP, the program serves 22,000 seniors nationally.

The local office typically finds jobs for about 90 seniors a year. Of the 102 AARP offices administering the employment program, Tampa's office ranks second in the nation for finding jobs for seniors.

Libraries, cafeterias and offices are participants' training grounds. Hillsborough County schools, law offices, stores such as Home Depot and a variety of other locations later become their job sites.

The program pays seniors to work 20 hours a week at nonprofit or government agencies where they are trained. It eventually places them in better-paying jobs.

"For a lot of participants, retirement funds aren't cutting the mustard anymore," said Susan E. Cooper, Tampa program director. "A lot of them are scared. Some, because of a death or medical expenses, need to work again because they've run out of money and don't know what to do. There are as many different scenarios as there are people."

For Jacqueline Robinson, finding a job through the program could provide the income boost she needs to get a better apartment.

In November 2003, Robinson moved to Tampa from a high-rise apartment in Pittsburgh. Her Tampa apartment, which she qualified for based on her income, doesn't measure up, she said.

After working in child care for 15 years, Robinson couldn't find a suitable job in Tampa after her move. Her injured knee won't allow her to "chase after children on playgrounds" like she once could.

Robinson, along with the rest of the nation's 79-million baby boomers, will be turning 60 this year.

AARP's employment program is "giving me a chance to do something new, something else," said Robinson, who's training for clerical work at the program's office. Knowing the program will soon find a job to fit her new skills "takes the pressure off," she said.

And participants are usually trained and employed in less than a year.

After three months of training at the Department of Children and Family Services, Portugues is now in charge of payroll and accounting for the local AARP program.

"I've always liked to work," Portugues said, "and this has allowed me to really contribute and feel like I'm a part of something instead of just twiddling my thumbs and shuffling papers."

Portugues probably won't be able to afford her own apartment for a few years, she said. But being able to pay rent to her daughter is a positive step, Portugues said.

Utley works as Portugues' secretary.

With a decadeslong background in computers - from secretarial typing work to filing information for the county clerk's office - Utley said her new position is perfect for her.

"I like learning what's new in computers, programming, all of that," Utley said.

"I'm old," she said, "but you're never too old to learn."

Amber Mobley can be reached at 813 269-5311 or amobley@sptimes.com

If you are 55 years old or older with limited income and looking for employment, you might qualify for the Senior Community Service Employment Program. For more information, contact the AARP Foundation at (813) 962-4600. The AARP office is at 13153 N Dale Mabry Highway, Suite 125, which is in the Tunstall Financial Center near the intersection of N Dale Mabry and Fletcher Avenue, behind the Fresh Market.