Experience Works participants help prepare lunches at the Senior Center. Pictured from left are Experience Works participant Edith Vaughan, Council on Aging employee Ann Irwin, Experience Works participants Faye Hines and Margaret McGrady.

Seniors find work through program

Experience Works, a senior workforce organization, has helped local residents Faye Hines, Edith Vaughan, Eleanor Lundy and Margaret McGrady find employment. The four ladies participated in a training session with host agency representatives, Field Operations Coordinator Martha Nichols and Field Assistant Katherine Byers on Aug. 12.

The program, which was formerly known as the Green Thumb program, is administered by the federal government and subsidizes or pays the wages of older workers for a period of time.

"I needed training for a job," stated participant McGrady. "I went to Wilkes Community College and got an associate's in education. When I went to apply for a job as a teacher assistant, no jobs were available. I also am a substitute bus driver. There were no full-time positions available."

Hines served as a volunteer at the senior center. "I asked for a job and they took me on," she said. "Anything that needs doing, we do it." Vaughan serves as an assistant to the nutrition site manager.

"I help serve meals, pick up meals and help with activities," she said. Eleanor Lundy works at Alleghany Christians Associated for Relief and Emergency Service (CARES).

"I work in the sorting room where everything comes in," she said. "If we get caught up with that, we do whatever there is to do." Council on Aging Director Janis Fender spoke of the importance of those who participate in Experience Works.

"Without these people, we wouldn't have enough employees to work to do the job," she said. "They help us do our job better and quicker and more efficiently. Because of the funding, we just don't have the money to hire someone and this is helping them out."

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back