If you are in the Food Services Training Program, you get;
-a stipend of $10/weekday for the first two months.
-a saved bed every day that you are training/in class, which is Monday through Friday. You also get a saved bed on Sunday, because they want you to be able to be there on time on Monday morning. That means not having to do the bed lottery six days a week, and they also usually give you a nicer bed; not a bunk bed, and on the quieter, less crowded side of the dormitory.
-a free, unlimited subway and bus pass every week. A weekly pass usually costs $19/week, so that's a lot of money not to have to spend.
-work references when you're done, and a certificate that says you're trained to work in food services
-support all the way through the program, to help you create a resume and look for employment. I wasn't sure how I was going to address that part of the program, because the part of the Pine Street Inn that does that is Impact Employment Services. I guess that's a conversation that I won't have to think about how to have, since I won't be having it.
-respect from other homeless people who aren't in work or school; I was getting harassed a lot less at the shelter part of the Pine Street Inn over that past few days. That will get worse again, as soon as they find out that I had to leave the training program.
Copyright L. Kochman, July 2, 2015 @ 2:26 p.m.
