Three Rhode Island women who lost jobs in December when the A.J. Wright chain of retail stores closed its doors are, like countless others looking for work in the state, worried about their futures. They’re short on funds and they badly need jobs, the sooner the better.
What makes these women different from many other job seekers are the obstacles they are trying to overcome, with the help of a unique training program at Rhode Island College that the R.I. Department of Labor and Training has tailored for them.
The three single mothers are Hispanic immigrants (and U.S. citizens) who struggle with the English language. Their employment history is thin, their experience with computers is limited and, in two out of three cases, so is their education and access to transportation.
Claudia Santamaria and Lelvy Lantigua, both of Providence, and Aracely Hernandez, of Johnston, are enrolled in the skill-development course that begins April 11 at RIC. Progreso Latino, a social service agency in Central Falls, also is offering the program to former Wright employees from the Blackstone Valley.
Although RIC outreach programs have been helping the unemployed and under-employed for 15 years, this is the first time the college has worked exclusively with employees of a particular company that did business in both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, according to Jenifer Giroux, director of work force training and development at RIC.
“The goal of our program is language and skill enhancement,” Giroux said, “as well as development and implementation of a career plan.”
The 16-week course, offered 20 hours each day for five days each week in the morning, afternoon or evening, includes instruction in English as a second language, computer skills, and career exploration such as resume-writing and job-interview techniques. Special guests from the business world are invited to address the classes. At the end of the course, most participants go on for more training in specialized areas or begin an intensive job search, which can include job-shadowing and internships, Giroux said. Approximately 80 former A.J. Wright workers are getting help through the program tailored to their specific needs.
Students who go through the college’s vocational program do “fabulous,” Giroux said. She said some have opened their own insurance agencies, while others have found work as bookkeepers and accountants.
Santamaria, 36, Lantigua, 31, and Hernandez, 53, were interviewed recently at RIC with the assistance of translator Vidal De La Cruz, who works in various job-training capacities at the college. Each of the three speaks some English, but haltingly and with heavy accents that can sometimes obscure what they say. They were full-time workers at the A.J. Wright distribution center in Fall River and are collecting unemployment from the Bay State.
They worked at Wright for between 18 months and three years, and each woman has had months-long stretches of unemployment in the past. All three are single mothers and heads of households, each with two children and each with limited support networks of friends and family.
Only Hernandez graduated from college, in her native Guatemala, where she was an elementary school teacher; Santamaria has a high school diploma and Lantigua finished ninth grade. None needs day care because their children are adults or looked after by a relative. Only Santamaria can provide her own transportation; Hernandez shares a car with her 19-year-old daughter and Lantigua pays for carpooling.
Rumors circulated for weeks, but it was right before Christmas that the three were laid off, along with approximately 800 of their fellow workers at the warehouse. A.J. Wright closed 71 stores nationwide and converted another 91 to other TJX Co. brands, such as T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, during January and February. Some 4,400 jobs nationwide were lost.
Santamaria hopes to acquire better business skills that she can apply to her goal of becoming an accountant. “When I finish this program, I’d like to continue to study,” she said. She had worked as an accountant in her native El Salvador. Lantigua wants to “improve my English” and her computer skills so she can find work as a secretary.
“I miss it,” Hernandez said of teaching. “I’m scared of English, I’m scared of the system. I don’t know if I can do it in another country, if I can learn the language.” Instead, Hernandez has her sights set on becoming a medical assistant and working with the elderly because “I like to take care of old people,” she said.
All three are excited about the opportunity to learn new employment skills so they can find new jobs and earn more money because “the money we receive from unemployment is not too much,” Santamaria observed. “I am so excited to study something that will improve my life,” Hernandez said. “It’s better for the family and for the community.”
The ultimate goal is to see the former Wright employees “re-employed within the community so they can continue to sustain their families, make progress and move forward,” said Mario Bueno, director of Progreso Latino. “This happened at a very unfortunate time,” he said of the layoffs, when low- and moderate-income families already were struggling with the rising cost of housing, food and transportation.
At the DLT, spokeswoman Laura Hart and Jane Palmer, senior employment and training manager, said the job-development programs at RIC and Progreso Latino were “tailored” to meet the needs of A.J. Wright workers who are Rhode Island residents. “So many people in this group have the same barriers [to finding new jobs],” Hart said.
Without such a program, Palmer is convinced that these workers would need a lot more time to find new jobs than others due to the obstacles they must overcome. “Without these services, they would not have the same opportunities as other folks when applying for jobs,” Palmer told Providence Business News. “This will make them competitive.” •
Now THIS is what I’m talking about. Look at these women. They are taking the initiative and adding to their skills to become a better talented employee. Thank you for printing an article that backs up what I’ve been saying for years. Despite what the fleeing locals cry about, it’s quite clear that it’s they with their low talent and dim wit that are the problem with RI and not the new “illegals.” Read this story again and tell me that you can even picture a local white native women having the same initiative and drive. Yes, I’m joking. We know that will never happen. The unions and local government will keep them down. Am I right?