Island Harvest job training program graduates its first class

Charles Lee of Amityville said before landing a spot in Island Harvest’s newly launched jobs training program, “I was giving up a little bit” on work prospects.

Lee, 51, who said he is going through treatment for substance abuse, described how the instructors and organizers behind the food bank’s new Workforce Skills Development Institute made it clear to him and the nine other students of the inaugural class that failure was not an option. The support he received has given him new hope, he said.

Lee had previously worked as a delivery driver for a laundry service on Long Island, but lost the job roughly two weeks before the start of Island Harvest's workforce program because the business didn't have enough work for him.

The roughly six-week paid training course, geared toward teaching job skills for warehouse and logistics work, launched on Jan. 9. Island Harvest celebrated the graduation of its first cohort of trainees at a ceremony in Melville Friday morning.

The 130-hour course requires participants to meet in person Monday through Friday, participate in classwork as well as hands-on training for jobs such as forklift driving, and make regular field trips to learn from warehouse workers at Amazon, Stop & Shop and DiCarlo Food Distributors.

Through state grants and donations from Bank of America as well as other businesses, the institute pays trainees $15 an hour and provides stipends for child care and transportation. The aim is to ensure participants can focus on the course and not financial strains.

As a newly minted graduate, Lee said he’s on a path to greater career opportunities and he feels much more confident in himself. Island Harvest will keep up regular weekly communication with grads for six months to track their progress as they hit the job market.

“I tell so many people if you can find about this program, get in this program,” said Lee. "If I can make it, anybody can make it.”

A job training program operated by a food bank might seem like an odd mix, said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and chief executive of Island Harvest, but she said it’s long been a vision of the organization.

As far back as 20 years ago, officials at the Melville-based nonprofit were mulling over the idea, though the resources to fully support it weren’t there at the time.

“This has always been an interest of our organization because we recognize it’s not really about food insecurity, it’s really about income insecurity,” she said. “If we could solve the problem of income insecurity, we could get close to solving food insecurity.”

Dresner said the group’s focus on warehouse work came after speaking with local business partners about their staffing needs, and the nonprofit’s own experience overseeing the warehousing and storage of food.

Employment in warehousing and storage on Long Island has grown by 219%, or 2,682 jobs,  over the past decade, while employment of local messengers and delivery workers grew by 1,625 jobs, or 212%, according to the latest figures from the state Labor Department.

Much of that growth has been due to the increased popularity of online shopping and expansion of e-commerce operations locally.

Now, with the institute having completed its first round of classes, Dresner said the organization plans to continue offering courses multiple times a year, with the goal of training around 135 individuals a year and expanding into courses on food repackaging and food safety.

Jamal Cole, 20, of Uniondale, said he first heard about the Workforce Skills Development Institute last summer at a job fair. After learning about the opportunity to receive compensated training in OSHA safety standards and operating a forklift, he was sold.

“Once I saw all the skills that they were going to provide for me, it was a win-win,” Cole said.

He said the coaching has made him more confident in his job searches and has already resulted in a revamped resume. 

"Things have been going good," he said. "People have been calling me about jobs.”

Island Harvest will host an information session on upcoming classes on March 16 at its Melville headquarters at 126 Spagnoli Rd. For  details on the Workforce Skills Development Institute and its upcoming classes, visit islandharvest.org/workforce-skills-development-institute/.