plus 1, Government of Canada Helps Moose Jaw Youth Prepare for Jobs - Newsblaze.com

Government of Canada Helps Moose Jaw Youth Prepare for Jobs - Newsblaze.com

Posted: 24 Aug 2010 09:40 AM PDT

Published: August 24, 2010

MOOSE JAW, SASKATCHEWAN - (Marketwire - Aug. 24, 2010) - Local youth who face barriers to employment will get job preparation training and work experience through the Government of Canada's support for an employment project. Mr. Ray Boughen, Member of Parliament for Palliser, made the announcement today on behalf of the Honourable Diane Finley, Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development.

"In today's environment, it is more important than ever that youth develop the skills they need to participate and succeed in the job market," said Mr. Boughen. "By supporting this project, we are helping Moose Jaw youth develop the skills, knowledge and work experience they need to reach their full potential."

The Five Hills Regional Health Authority will receive $238,098 in federal Skills Link funding to support its Transitions to Employment project, which will help 50 youth facing employment barriers develop life and job skills to ease their transition to work or return to school.

"The Five Hills Health Region values this significant financial support from the Government of Canada," said Mr. Terry Hutchinson, Executive Director, Mental Health and Addictions Services, Five Hills Health Region. "Together, we give hope to many young people in our communities who seek our help to enter the workforce or return to school."

"Successfully engaging youth in the labour market is essential to maintaining Saskatchewan's economic prosperity and developing a skilled workforce for the future" said Warren Michelson, Member of the Legislative Assembly for Moose Jaw North on behalf of Rob Norris, Minister of Advanced Education, Employment and Immigration. "The province is pleased to partner in this program to provide vital assistance to young people who are experiencing employment barriers."

The federal government is working with the provinces and territories, community organizations and other stakeholders to provide Canadians with the training, skills and opportunities they need to get jobs and contribute to their communities.

Through the 2010 "Jobs and Growth Budget," the Government of Canada committed an additional $60 million to the Skills Link and Career Focus programs. This additional one-time investment will enable more young Canadians to gain the experience and skills they need to successfully participate in the labour market while the economy recovers.

Skills Link is part of the Government of Canada's strategy to create the best educated, most skilled and most flexible workforce in the world. The Government underscored its commitment to this strategy in Canada's Economic Action Plan. A key component of the Plan is to create more and better opportunities for Canadian workers through skills development. To learn more about Canada's Economic Action Plan, visit www.actionplan.gc.ca.

The Skills Link program is delivered by Service Canada, which provides one-stop personalized services for Government of Canada programs, services and benefits. For more information about this program, visit www.servicecanada.gc.ca, call 1 800 O-Canada or drop by your local Service Canada Centre.

This news release is available in alternative formats upon request.

Backgrounder

The Five Hills Regional Health Authority provides health services in Moose Jaw and other south-central communities in Saskatchewan, with a mission to educate and provide quality services that help people make healthy choices. Through the Transitions to Employment project, the organization will provide youth with personalized action plans and one-on-one sessions to monitor their progress. The participants will take part in employability workshops, on topics such as personal management and teamwork skills, to assist them in obtaining and maintaining employment.

As part of the Government of Canada's Youth Employment Strategy, the Skills Link program is one of three programs that help young Canadians, particularly those facing barriers to employment, obtain career information, develop skills, gain work experience, find good jobs and stay employed. The other two programs are Summer Work Experience and Career Focus.

Skills Link focuses on helping youth facing barriers to employment, such as single parents, Aboriginal youth, young persons with disabilities, recent immigrants, youth living in rural and remote areas, and youth who have dropped out of high school. It offers a client-centred approach based on assessing an individual's specific needs. The program supports youth in developing basic and advanced employment skills. Eligible participants between 15 and 30 years of age-who are not receiving Employment Insurance benefits-are assisted through a coordinated approach, offering longer-term supports and services that can help them find and keep a job. 819-994-5559

Tags: ,Government,State,POLITICS

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Devalued Homes Anchor Prospective Job Seekers - NPR News

Posted: 26 Aug 2010 06:31 AM PDT

Enlarge Courtesy of Melissa Brooks

After a year, Melissa Brooks and her husband still haven't found a buyer for their home in Lansing, Mich. -- even though it's listed for less than they owe on the mortgage.

Courtesy of Melissa Brooks

After a year, Melissa Brooks and her husband still haven't found a buyer for their home in Lansing, Mich. -- even though it's listed for less than they owe on the mortgage.

With unemployment high and jobs scarce, work is hard enough to find. But in today's economy, there's an even bigger barrier for some: their home.

Many people can't afford to sell their homes; as many as one-third of homeowners owe more than their home is now worth, and there are few buyers. Americans who once expected mobility now find themselves grounded, with their careers and lives fixed in place. They can't move to better job markets without taking a huge financial hit.

Among them are Melissa Brooks and her husband. They had planned to move from Lansing, Mich., to Atlanta, to be closer to family and more available jobs. But for the past year — even at a steep discount — their home hasn't found a buyer.

"Everything's kind of just centered around selling this house here in Michigan," Brooks says.

It has complicated her life. On the one hand, she has enrolled her child in school in Lansing.

But Brooks herself, a teacher, is keeping her career on hold in case they can move — she's not looking for a job, nor is she pursuing her graduate studies. She's also kept the house on the market, which is now a short sale — meaning it's listed for less than what they owe on the mortgage.

The experience of buying a home has scarred her, she says, and she often feels angry.

"Recently, I guess, I've been angry at the people looking to buy my home, which sounds crazy, because I want to sell the home," she says. But after renovating her 19th century home with money she'll never recover, she's appalled that prospective buyers ask her whether she plans to paint the deck or replace the wallpaper.

"I feel like, 'Don't ask me anything,' because we're short-selling this house, we're not doing anything else to it," Brooks says.

On a national level, this phenomenon is hurting the efficiency of the labor market, says real estate professor Joe Gyourko at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. With these constraints, employers and employees aren't finding their best match.

"Outside of outright foreclosure itself and the loss of wealth, it's probably the most important impact of overleveraging the housing market that we're going to have in this cycle," Gyourko says.

Some parts of the country — namely the East and West Coast markets — are likely to recover more quickly. But not everyone will be able to wait for home prices to recover and continue to forgo better jobs. In other words: At some point, people will abandon their houses.

"If you need a job and you need to improve your life chances, you know, why not?" Gyourko says. "I mean, it's not that it's free and it's not that it doesn't cost you, but it may be worth paying that price."

Tony Abrom has considered that.

His workplace has been downsizing, so he has been looking for work elsewhere, including out of state. Two years ago, he and his wife prepared to sell their house in Douglasville, Ga.

"We were really ready to leave," Abrom says. "We were painting the walls and everything and getting everything done, and that assessment just took the wind out of everything we were doing."

Now, Abrom can't afford to drive far from his home, but he also cannot afford to sell it.

Being stuck also forced Abrom to defer his dream of joining the Air Force, which would also require a move. And it appears he won't be free to leave for some time. "My father's buying a house four down from me — same floor plan that I have for half the price that I paid for mine. And when I saw that, it gave me the feeling that, 'Oh my God, I'm never going to be able to get out of this neighborhood.' "