Recently, Tara Bolen had the opportunity to chat with Shakira Nasiruddin, an employment specialist from MERS-Goodwill. The organization offers adult education/GED preparation classes for residents of Forest Park Southeast (FPSE) and Botanical Heights. New classes will begin on February 1 , 2011, and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 am – 12 pm at the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club Adams Park Unit.
Shakira Nasiruddin, an employment specialist from MERS-Goodwill
The following is an excerpt from that interview:
TB: “Let’s begin with the job readiness program. Can you tell me a little about the program?”
SN: “Sure, the job readiness program, through MERS-Goodwill, has a training goal of enrolling 50 residents from the Forest Park Southeast neighborhood registered for the employment program. Of those 50 residents, we hope to get 35 placed in jobs, then out of the 35 we hope to see 25 residents stay at a job for at least 90 days. That is our current goal.”
TB: “How did the adult education/GED preparation come about?”
SN: “FPSE residents wanted to obtain jobs through our job readiness program, but we noticed that many were not able to get a job due to lack of a GED. That’s why we started the adult education/GED preparation classes. We wanted to reinvest in the FPSE community and its residents and believe that once someone has an education they possess better insight about themselves and their surrounding issues. I believe that the better educated residents are, the safer FPSE becomes.”
TB: “How can a resident sign up for the adult education/GED preparation program?”
SN: “Any FPSE resident can stop by the MERS-Goodwill job readiness training program office located at the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club Adams unit. Once there, they can either sign up or take a flyer with them to fill out later.”
Call today to hold your seat in the adult education/GED preparation class! 314.535.3252
For more information about the program please email Shakira Nasiruddin at dnasiruddin@mersgoodwill.org or contact her at 314.535.3252.
View the adult education/GED program flyer below:
