As the pandemic loosens its grip on our nation, a federal program that trains older adults to re-enter the workforce is expanding in four Kentucky counties.
Ten nonprofits in Daviess, Henderson, Hopkins and Mclean counties are currently active in the federal Senior Community Service Employment Program, or SCSEP.
Adults 55 and older are paid $7.25 an hour, for up to 20 hours a week, while they train at sites that include schools, food banks, youth programs and senior centers.
At the Hopkins County Senior Center in Madisonville, WKU Public Radio reporter Rhonda Miller found out how SCSEP training led to a permanent job for one woman who came four-thousand miles to settle in Kentucky and how the programhelped deepen her roots in her community.
It’s a typical Tuesday at the senior center in Madisonville, with folks chatting and having lunch. What’s also typical is staff member Faith Polley in constant motion.
She comes out of the office where she does clerical work to assist the center coordinator. She helps at the serving table, scooping out yogurt and topping it with fruit. Then she sets up for bingo, one of the many activities she helps coordinate.
"I love it. I always was the kind of type of person that wanted to help people, all my life," said Polley. "And then I don’t have family here. So, you know, I don’t have a grandma here. I don’t have a mom here. I don’t have a dad here. So, they take the place of everybody else, all of them.”
She pulled up her own roots years ago to plant new ones in Kentucky.
“I actually moved from Hawaii. Born and raised there. I came here in 1996," said Polley. "I originally came here because I was going to be on vacation.”
She came from Hawaii to Madisonville, Kentucky for a vacation? How did she pick Madisonville?
“Because that’s where my ex-husband’s family is from, here,” she said.
Polley lives with her daughter and granddaughter in Madisonville and said her work at the senior center is more than just a job.
"It’s like a family unit here to me," said Polley. "You know, you’ve got grandmas. We have a lady here that’s 90 years old and recently we had a birthday party for her. So she’s like my great grandma."
"I don’t have family here. So, you know, I don’t have a grandma here. I don’t have a mom here. I don’t have a dad here. So, they take the place of everybody else, all of them.”Faith Polley
Polley worked with special needs children in Hawaii. When she came to Kentucky she worked at Kroger for 20 years, some of those years in customer service.
“Then I retired and I stayed home for two years and I got bored,” said Polley.
She first came to the senior center as a volunteer, and heard about the SCSEP program. She upgraded her computer and clerical skills during three years of training.
When she was about to be transferred to another site for more training,
senior center coordinator Wendy Simms says stepped in because she didn’t want to let Polley go.
"I begged her and begged her, 'cause I thought they were getting ready to move her. And I said, ‘No, we want you here'," said Simms.
‘Cause she’s a good worker and she interacts with the seniors really good,
so, yeah..."
Now Polley, who’s 59 years old, is a permanent employee.
SCSEP Kentucky Employment Specialist Alyssa Warner is at the Madisonville senior center today. She said Faith Polley is a great role model for the SCSEP program because she had work experience and computer skills, and with training, landed a new job that she loves.
Warner said the SCSEP program works with a wide range of skill levels.
“I’ve had one lady, she honestly thought that the computer would blow up if she turned it on,” said Warner.
The regional SCSEP program is headquartered at Goodwill in Evansville, Indiana.
Warner is based at Goodwill in Owensboro, Kentucky. She says computer skills are a major element of the training program.
“At my Owensboro office we have a small lab in there that our participants can come in and use. And we have, we call it ‘Lend a Laptop’ and I have four of them," said Warner. "So they’ll get the laptop and a little hotspot that they’ll take, and we show them how to use it. And they can borrow the computer for up to three months.”
Warner said she sees people benefit from the program in many ways.
"You work, you know, 50 something years and then you go to sitting at home. It’s lonely and they get depressed. Some of them have had to come out of retirement because they can’t afford their bills," said Warner. "So this program helps them get the skills that they need or to get over the ageism and the stigma of that."
With 16 people currently in training, and a maximum of 33 in the regional
program, Warner is on the lookout for 17 older adults who want to upgrade their skills and hopefully, like Faith Polley, land a new job that they love.