New program helps Red Deerians get HIRED by increasing hope

“We strive to create more hopefulness for people which, we feel, directly correlates being able to attach to the workforce and stay attached to the workforce,” he said.

He describes how a “hope action inventory” is first completed with all clients to measure their optimism in six different categories: hopefulness, self-reflection, self-clarity, visioning, goal setting and planning, and implementing and adapting. He says they then try to identify which category individuals may be hopefully low on and work on improving that.

Dermott says one of the program’s unique aspects is its broad ability to help individuals with a variety of barriers to finding work. Some of those obstacles range from having mental health issues, being newly immigrated, and culturally marginally employed, to those who simply don’t know how to put a resume together.

The program was initiated, he says, when it was noticed that Red Deer was one of the cities with a higher unemployment rate. In June 2021, it was 10.2 per cent, the highest in the province.

READ: Red Deer region’s unemployment rate down from last year, but remains high

Dermott says the government decided to contract a career development organization to execute a workforce development contract to “Help Albertans Get Back to Work”. Their contract extends two years and three months with the goal of matching roughly 300 Red Deerians with a job.

HIRED program office in downtown’s Century Building (105-4807 50 Ave.) (rdnewsNOW/Alessia Proietti)

He explains that demand is increasing for workers in various industries including the oil field, security, hospitality and professional truck driving.

“Things are looking up here in Red Deer and we’re just glad to be a small part of that and we’re extremely excited to be able to offer help to people that build up the courage to ask for help,” he said.

Lisa Szafron, Job Developer for HIRED, says two success stories from the program particularly stick out to her.

One of their first clients, she says, was a 60-year-old man who came from the Mustard Seed. Throughout a recession and the pandemic, she says the man endured a divorce, loss of his home and his job. Having worked in the oil field all his life, Szafron said he learned through the HIRE program how to build a resume and reinstate certifications to return to the oil patch, later finding a job in a Fort McMurray camp.

Another story entailed a newly immigrated family from Ukraine, who wrote in a Facebook post that they were looking for work. Reaching out, Szafron said she found professional clothing for the young mother through Dress for Success Central Alberta, a non-profit organization in Red Deer, and connected her with a CP Rail job fair, where the woman later received a job offer. Today, Szafron says the woman continues to utilize their services, including employment-related workshops and other amenities like accessible computers and printers.

READ: Dress for Success Central Alberta hires new executive director

Szafron says it’s been a very rewarding job so far.

“We have people from all walks of life that are coming in here,” she said. “We’re trying to get the word out that we’re here, we exist, and we’re here to help and if we can’t help, we’re going to find somebody that can.”

The HIRED program is free to all Albertans.

The organization will be hosting an Open House for the program on September 14 from 1 – 4 p.m. at their new downtown office in the Century Building.

by Alessia Proietti

New program helps Red Deerians get HIRED by increasing hope

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