Springfield's homeless find work through giving

Then he got the answer.

It came in the form of a flyer for the Victory Trade School, part of the Victory Mission in Springfield which, like Wayside, is a member of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions. The program was offering a 50/50 scholarship and work-study program to teach mission residents the ins and outs of the restaurant business.

He applied and was accepted. Now he’s a chef at Arde’s Villa.

The school is just one way that Victory Mission, 205 W. Commercial St. in Springfield, is helping people help themselves. Without a permanent place to call home or a phone line to be reached by prospective employers, Springfield’s homeless struggle to land jobs.

Springfield telecommunications provider ProTel is lending a hand to help Victory Mission residents find employment by offering free voicemail to mission residents.

Owner Steve Thompson said the program, started in December as a “Christmas gift to the community,” is intended to give that needed help to people in a difficult situation.

“If you’re homeless and are trying to find a job so you can get back in the mainstream, it can be a real barrier to finding a job if you don’t have a phone number, and it can also hurt if you have to give out the mission’s phone number as your number,” he said. “So with the voicemail box, people appear to be normal workers with a home phone and an answering machine.”

The company donated 25 boxes for the program. Once residents find employment, they have the option of leaving the mail box for another resident to use or paying a small fee – $7.95 per month – to keep the box, which would then be replaced with a new box for Victory Mission use.

Currently between eight and 10 of the boxes are being used by mission residents.

Though Rainey did not use one of the donated voicemail boxes, he said the mission has helped him, and it can work for others in his situation, too.

“A lot of times you’re talking about young people – young men – who have no focus on what they want to do in life,” he said. “The old adage is, ‘If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.’ This gives you a direction for what road you want to take to get you there.”

Victory Mission Director Jim Harriger said as many as 16 people at a time can take advantage of Victory Trade School’s eighth month program, where they get work experience through Cook’s Kettle restaurant as well as class experience that can be transferred as credit to Ozarks Technical Community College.

Courses offered through the trade school are National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation certified. Students must have experienced either a group-living environment or completed a recovery program, and they must have or be in the process of getting a high school diploma or general equivalency diploma.

The experience makes participants more attractive to potential employers. At least five of the 13 program graduates have landed jobs at Schlotzsky’s Deli, Panera Bread, Village Inn, Steak & Ale and Arde’s Villa. Three others have enrolled at Southwest Missouri State University, OTC and Bryan College.

Bob Greene, president and co-owner of Village Inn, said he has been impressed with the people who came out of the trade school.

“They were very eager and willing to start a new job. They were what you always want to try to hire in a new worker,” he said. “I think it’s a great program. I almost hesitate to comment on it because I’m afraid somebody else might hire them.”