PV Jobs
News and Announcements
PVJOBS held our Recognition Luncheon honoring a "Visionary" in local construction/community development, Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. We also honored outstanding "Clients of the Year" and a "Contractor of Year." The event was held in The Center at Cathedral Plaza in downtown Los Angeles. We welcome your support of PVJOBS and its mission: to address the multiple employment barriers among the at-risk and to provide placement in career-track, living wage jobs. More information isavailable on our events page.
PVJOBS has been awarded a grant to serve veterans. The PVJOBS Vets Program will target recently separated veterans, assisting them with starting a career in green industries. Clients will receive Occupational Safety and Health Administration certification and offered training toward a career in Energy Auditing or a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Associate certification prior to job placement. For more information, please call our Program Coordinator, Pat Atitebi, at (323) 432-3972.
Newsletter Highlight
Jesus Escobar, a 22-year-old who has been on and off of probation since he was 15 for tagging buses, is now a paid intern at PVJOBS while attending USC. Escobar’s vast transformation is a result of his participation in the Day Reporting Center, a new probation program that aims to help reduce California’s alarming recidivism rates and prevent probationers—ages 18 to 25—from entering the prison system.
“It’s a drastic change to work in an office,” says Escobar, who aspires to go to law school one day. “Working here is preparing me for my future career.”
PVJOBS partnered with the center last year to provide subsidized employment to the center’s graduates. Since forming the partnership, PVJOBS has placed 16 participants in paid internships and expect to hire another 10 individuals by August.
The primary goal of the center’s employment program is to provide probationers with paid on-the-job training and permanent employment, enabling them to build a job history for themselves. The program pays participants $11.55 per hour, much higher than minimum wage. “One of the keys to this population is money,” says Erick Cerda, the center’s employment resource coordinator. “If we only offered them minimum wage, they wouldn’t give us a chance because they figure they can make that on the streets.”