Job fair for Mount Vernon residents kicks off new city employment initiative

Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News
·3 min read

A Mount Vernon job fair offered city residents a shot at hundreds of positions in a large social services agency Wednesday.

Acacia Network teamed up with the Mount Vernon WORKS program to provide jobs starting at $35,000 with some topping $100,000. Many jobs were intended to be offered on the spot following interviews at the fair.

It was held at Grace Baptist Church at 52 S. Sixth Ave.

Job seekers had to be Mount Vernon residents. They interviewed for positions in a wide array of fields, including health care, case management, housing, maintenance and transportation.

One of those job seekers was Antonio McNeill, 33, who was released from prison two weeks ago after being incarcerated for more than six years. He was looking for a position in youth counseling so he could "help kids not make the same mistakes I made."

Another hopeful was Jason Garrell-Hall, 25, a College of Westchester student who was looking for a job in a science or medical field. He ended up being offered a position with Bronx-based Acacia Network, whose work revolves around transitional housing and had opportunities in health care, social work, management and related fields.

Andrea Haynes, who coordinates Mount Vernon WORKS as the city’s director of economic development, said the job fair was “very important for the economic well-being of our community. Honestly it’s a great career opportunity for someone looking to boost their resume.”

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It’s the first major event for Mount Vernon WORKS, a city-run initiative designed to boost employment as a way to help individuals and also give a shot in the arm to the local economy. Haynes envisions job fairs in the coming months geared toward careers in retail, construction and health care.

Battovyah Brooks, 54, right, works with Judana Burnett of Bronx-based Acacia Network during a job fair for Mount Vernon residents sponsored by the Mount Vernon WORKS program at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon on Sept. 14, 2022. Acacia Network, whose work revolves around transitional housing, was interviewing for positions in health care, social work, management and related fields. Brooks, who was laid off from her most recent job six months ago, says that being without work has been very stressful. She was looking for a position in data analysis.

Bronx-based Acacia has over 3,000 employees, serves 150,000 people and has available positions in its home borough and Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn. Much of its work revolves around transitional housing and includes many peripheral jobs in health care, social work, management and related fields.

Katrina Jones is Acacia's senior vice president for human resources and spent several years on the board of the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce. She said she saw the job fair as a good opportunity to partner with a city that was dedicated to helping employ its residents, whether they were out of work or looking to change careers.

“Coming to Mount Vernon is going to be the start in helping us get a lot of our positions filled so we can increase our numbers that we serve,” she said.

Erica Peterson, the Mount Vernon school district’s parent resource coordinator, was also on the chat and said the job fair was a good opportunity to bolster families’ financial health, which is often as critical as medical and mental health.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Mount Vernon WORKS job fair kicks off employment initiative