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April 30, 2010
Job fair draws crowd-Guam
The following information was downloaded from the mailing list of "Disability and Development" with a cooperation of the publisher, Mr. Soya Mori.
By Dionesis Tamondong
Pacific Daily News
April 27, 2010
More than 500 jobseekers -- a majority having some type of disability -- registered and were interviewed for jobs at the Special Challenges Job Fair yesterday. http://www.jicafriends.net/archives/2010/04/improve_those_w.html
The event, held at the Agana Shopping Center, brought together more than two dozen employers, jobseekers and organizations that provide programs and services for people with disabilities.
Frances Bell, of the Department of Labor's One Stop Center, said her office will remain in contact with potential employers over the next several weeks to determine how many were hired at the fair.
A variety of companies participated yesterday, including food services, insurance and financial services and construction companies looking to ramp up their personnel for projects anticipated with the military buildup.
In addition to helping people with disabilities find jobs, another objective of the fair was to help raise awareness of services for those facing barriers to employment -- transportation, assistive technology, vocational rehabilitation, housing, reasonable accommodation, and legal rights.
"We wanted to get them out of the house and let them know what's out there for them," she said. "A lot of them sit at home and become dependent on family."
The government of Guam has a poor record of helping people with disabilities find jobs and careers. In recent years, the Department of Integrated Services for Individuals with Disabilities has had to return millions of federal dollars that should've been used to help clients learn job skills and gain employment.
Bell said her agency, which partnered with DISID to organize yesterday's fair, will follow through with participating employers to see how many registered jobseekers were hired.
The event was held in conjunction with President Obama's Federal Job Fair for people with disabilities scheduled for the same day in Washington, D.C.
"These people have skills. We just need to train them and get them out of the house," Bell said. "We need to be aggressive as a community to get them employed."
photo caption: Summer job sought: Department of Education Division of Special Education teacher Nichol Napoleon, third from right, assists John F. Kennedy student Roman Elgarico, 16, as he checks out job openings at the Guam Community College booth at the Special Challenges Job Fair on April 26. Elgarico was looking for a summer job. The fair was held at the Agana Shopping Center. (Masako Watanabe/Pacific Daily News)
http://www.guampdn.com/article/20100427/NEWS01/4270316
Posted by jicafriends at April 30, 2010 01:30 PM