The Friendly Home received $23,000 in funding from Wired to create and conduct a training course that resulted in securing work for seven people and created a model that can be used in other organizations.

The Friendly Home responded to an RFP released by Finger Lakes Wired, which was looking for innovative solutions to integrate existing resources in new ways. The model was to target jobs and/or careers in which on-the-job training and coaching/mentorship could help move individuals into jobs, and potentially into careers.

With the Wired funding, the Friendly Home created a curricula and model for this type of training that can be brought into virtually any assisted living facility and can be implemented with slight adjustments.  The most significant feature of the initiative is the mentoring and coaching that goes hand-in-hand with the on-the-job training.

“I think it's been a great success. Seven people competed the class and all were offered full time employment in the healthcare field,” says John Gagnon, Vice President Services at The Friendly Home.

The 204-bed nursing home is one of the oldest in the country and has more than 400 full and part time employees.

In general there is high employee turn over rate in the nursing home field and that is one reason a training course was created with the collaboration of several organizations: The Friendly Home, RochesterWorks!, Senior Health Alliance of Greater Rochester (SHAGR) and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).

Together the organizations created a 90-hour course taking place over a four-week period. The first one was held in the summer and the next one is scheduled for October, Gagnon says.

Course participants shadow workers in five different jobs over five days: food service worker, food service porter, environmental service worker, environmental service porter who does heavy duty cleaning, and laundry worker. After five days, participants pick their favorite jobs and continue to learn more about those jobs.

“One thing that is so impressive about this program is that the concept is highly replicable; this type of initiative can be used in almost any industry in which there is a shortage of skilled workers,” says Christina Bakewicz, Business Services Coordinator at RochesterWorks!.

The steps to create a course are simple, Bakewicz says. First choose candidates who have an aptitude for employment in a particular industry, provide a short, intensive training program, then hire those who complete the training.

“While it takes some planning and time in the beginning stages, by collaborating and leveraging resources, the payoff is well worth it,” she says.

The Friendly Home course shows that there are many opportunities in the field of healthcare “if people get in the door,” Gagnon says. “We needed to expose people to the health care environment.”

He adds that the course is good for the community because it gives people an opportunity to work.

Working with RochesterWorks! has been beneficial for The Friendly Home. “RochesterWorks! and The Friendly Home work very well together. RochesterWorks! is looking to employ people and we’re looking to hire people,” Gagnon says.