LiFEBoat Services looks to help the homeless find jobs

May 20—Monica Gibbs had been out of work for a while. She wanted to find a job, but she was not sure she could manage reentering the workforce.

Gibbs was homeless for much of her life, including after she moved to Astoria with her daughter in 2011. Her post-traumatic stress disorder makes it difficult for her to be consistent, which makes it hard for her to find a good fit and an employer willing to be patient.

"You mentally know yourself, and you're like, 'OK, I can go work this job until maybe two weeks when I get a paycheck, but after that I don't know if I'm going to be able to go back,'" she said. "McDonald's don't want you to walk in and tell them that. You're wasting their time. There has to be places that are equipped to give people a chance."

Gibbs said her life changed after she became a member of Beacon Clubhouse, a members-only center that provides mental health support and other services.

Beacon Clubhouse and Filling Empty Bellies, a nonprofit that serves meals to anyone in need and connects homeless people with services, are under the umbrella of LiFEBoat Services, which opened on Commercial Street downtown last August.

Gibbs was the first person to complete Beacon Clubhouse's transitional employment program, which helps connect members to jobs and provides support during the first 90 days, whether it be assisting with transportation, job training or providing clothes and shoes. After 90 days, members may be hired on permanently or use the experience to find another job.

Gibbs was hired by Filling Empty Bellies to help in the kitchen for 90 days, and she said the work was a good fit and gave her something to focus on. Afterward, she took on a permanent position in the organization.

"With the transitional employment, I got a shot," said Gibbs, who has since also found housing. "I wasn't trying to prove to them I could do the job. I'm working hard to prove to myself that I could do it. And I did it."

Gibbs said showing up, especially on bad days, is not easy. And some days she cannot show up.

"I could have quit, but I knew mentally that was something I had to do because I had to show my kid you can still kick butt and not be OK," she said.

For Beacon Clubhouse, which is based on an international model, supporting members with employment is central to the organization's mission.

Erin Carlsen, the director of Beacon Clubhouse, runs LiFEBoat Services with her fiancée, Osarch Orak, the director of Filling Empty Bellies.

Carlsen and Orak said that as LiFEBoat expands, the goal is to grow the transitional employment program and build more partnerships with local employers.

They described transitional employment as a "win-win." Members can try a job and build skills that could lead to permanent roles. Employers can try an employee for 90 days and determine whether it is a long-term fit, knowing LiFEBoat will be there to provide support when needed.

"We want to reach out to more local businesses who are willing and able to leave a position open for transitional employment," Orak said.

"There are so many different types of mental illness and just because you have mental illness doesn't mean that you can't be a productive member of society, you can't hold down a job or that you don't want to. You might just need a little bit of extra help in a particular area to push past your issues, whatever you're struggling with."

Orak and Carlsen are also pursuing other types of employment partnerships in the community.

Gibbs recently helped the organization form a partnership with Service Care of America, a food service contractor that provides food services at Camp Rilea. Gibbs' daughter works for the company and reached out when they were facing staffing shortages.

Four people from Beacon Clubhouse and Filling Empty Bellies now work at the food service full time.

Olga Watkins, the program manager of the food service, said the partnership is going great.

Watkins said she has struggled with the same staffing shortages as other businesses, adding that the labor market on the North Coast is even more difficult because of the lack of transportation options.

"The area is very spread out. You can't walk to Camp Rilea," Watkins said. "As an employer, though, with the current situation, it is important, I feel, to approach hiring people a little differently these days."

Oftentimes, there are barriers, especially for people who are homeless, Watkins said. Once people pass a background check and get hired, she talks with employees about any impediments they may have to getting to work and communicating.

In response to the transportation challenge, Watkins said, her staff of 15 have worked out a carpool schedule.

She said that while there is a perception that many homeless people do not want to work, she has found that many do.

But it takes extra time to work through issues like transportation, housing and completing paperwork. It also takes time to coordinate with organizations like LiFEBoat and other employment services.

"But if I need the help, I have to be willing to do that," Watkins said. "If I'm going to hire people that have those obstacles in their lives, then I have to do a little extra work as well. And that's OK."