HELP KEEP EMPLOYMENT SERVICES AT NEIGHBOUR TO NEIGHBOUR CENTRE

The Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities informed Neighbour to Neighbour Centre that they would be shutting down the Centre’s Employment Services Department effective July 31, 2010.  Neighbour to Neighbour strongly opposes this decision and is working very hard to have funding for these services continued.

The Centre has been built around the concept of a one-stop shop. This means that Neighbour to Neighbour’s clients can come into the Centre and have many of their most important needs met without having to travel around (but mostly below) the City.

The concept has worked very well for Neighbour to Neighbour’s clients and the Centre has been acknowledged by many as a model to copy.  Food, Shelter and Employment are key to a family’s survival. Presently Neighbour to Neighbour offers all that support under one roof and that is were it should stay for the benefit of clients.

Arguments

• Eliminating Employment Centres at places like N2N because there are too many in close proximity to each other.  Mohawk College and SISO are the only other Employment programs on the Mountain. The clients that participate in Neighbour to Neighbour Centre’s Employment Services are those that face many barriers to employment, e.g. senior laid off workers, VAW clients, clients just out of jail.  SISO focuses specifically on new immigrants (however even SISO has referred clients to our program) and N2N’s clients would not be those that would walk into an institution like Mohawk College
• In terms of the proximity there is a reason why these three employment centres are located where they are.  They are easily accessible on Hamilton Mountain by bus – exactly why these locations were selected for services
• Hamilton Mountain, the fastest growing area of the City has a population of approximately 250,000 people. Until the Ministry’s announcement there were 3 employment program locations available for Mountain residents.  This has now been reduced to 2, far fewer on a per capita basis than those available below the Mountain. 
• MTCU’s perception of a one-stop shop focuses on employment services in the absence of any other supports. Neighbour to Neighbour Centre has been providing employment services since 1996.  Experience shows that unemployed individuals have needs that very often exceed the parameters of just employment and training. That is why our Centre’s one stop shop approach has been very effective and identified as a model to follow.
• Neighbour to Neighbour Centre asked MTCU to expand it present services in early 2007. We were told at that time that we could not do this until the "new employment service model " was determined. Now we are being penalized because we presently don’t have the full slate of services

Please help support our Centre by signing the online petition or by having a petition filled out at your location.

Please sign the online petition or return a hard copy to Neighbour to Neighbour Centre - 28 Athens Street Hamilton by March 1, 2010.