Black Horizons; 4017; Careers & Workways

You You Welcome to another episode of Black Horizons. I'm your host Chris Moore. Today we'll talk

about a special program at a local college that just may be able to help you change your future. And if you missed it on cue a story about a dentist who takes care of the folks who can least afford it. And don't forget there's our community calendar on the horizon. But before we get to any of that every day people face the impossible dilemma of steady employment and no way to get to those important jobs. Our next guest is here to tell us about two new programs that are designed to bring working adults and the cars they need together. From the ways to work program please welcome Longcore Native Gwen Porter. Ms. Porter welcome to our program glad to have you here. All right tell us about ways to work that's one of the program. Ways to work is a loan program to help individuals purchase a vehicle to travel back and forth to work. The vehicle purchase is up to six thousand dollars. Will they repair the vehicles up to a thousand. And what about keys to success? Key success is the same program. Ways to work is a national program. Key success is

a local program that's actually operated by Family Services of Western Pennsylvania. The guidelines are the same except for one thing you don't have to have children. We ways to work the guidelines are you have to have a Pennsylvania driver's license. You must be employed for at least three months 20 hours a week. You must demonstrate that you can pay a loan back and you must have a child under age 18 or under and also you must be able to pay the loan back. Key success is the same program. It's just that you have you don't have to have children. Okay but why a car? I'm sure there are people watching this program who are saying nobody bought me a car and I went to work every day if I had to catch public transportation or not. Why should we buy the working poor a car? And I say we I don't know who funds it. People will assume it's their tax dollars. I don't know. Okay this program is waste work is this is operated this way. What happens if once you get a loan you're actually paying the loan back. Okay. So it's a loan it's not a giveaway. No

it's not a grant it's a loan. So loans it's up to say for example four thousand dollars. The payment is over 24 month period at eight percent and once you're making the payment back monthly you reestablish your line of credit. You're actually paying the bank back not our agency back. So this is also a program for people who might not be able to establish credit somewhere because of their work history or anything else. Work history just didn't pay their bills and when they were younger so now they say you know what I want to change that I want to turn things around. This is your opportunity to do that and at the same time you have a vehicle to travel back and forth to work. What has been demonstrated is that there are jobs out there locally a lot of times the jobs are further out and you have to travel and public transportation is not available to get to your job and if you have a child your child off a daycare and also get to work on time that was designed as program. And so if I apply for one of these things it's not like it's going to buy me a Cadillac or something it's just something this dependable transportation right. Right no luxury vehicles and the loans up to $6 ,000 you get a pretty

nice vehicle at that dollar amount. Maybe two years old or something and something economical too. Right and if you have good negotiation skills you can probably work that a little better. Okay what if I own an existing hoopty and I just need to keep it on the road is there something to help me there. Yes we do repair up to a thousand dollars over again that too is a loan side of grant whereas once you get the loan you pay that loan back over one year or two year period. And what area do you serve? I understand there are like five or six counties here Allegheny and Beaver, Washington, Fayette those those kinds of counties that you're helping. Yes those are the county Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland, Green, Fayette and Westmoreland so give us a call and I'm sure we can actually service you. Okay we'll give that number in just a second. If someone's watching this program and they think that they need dependable transportation when they call what's the first thing that they have there? I imagine they have to have a driver's license and a valid Pennsylvania driver's license and more right? Yes we do it basic intake on you to see if you actually qualify for the program and those are the things that just mention Pennsylvania

driver's license you must be employed for at least three months okay and you must demonstrate you can pay it back and what we do once you fill out the application we call you and we'll set you with an appointment and we'll meet with you we'll look at your budget and see if you can actually pay the loan back. So this program is a hand out it's a hand up not a handout an ultimate goal is to work with you and if you don't qualify we'll still work with you to make sure or try to work with you to get to get qualified. How successful have you been in making that kind of transition for working poor people who need this kind of access to a vehicle to get to work do you find that the people you've been able to grant the loans have continued work and haven't been able to say well I can't get there but this is a boon to me and I can get there and I'm working and this feels good I'm taking care of myself and my family. Yes what we're finding now we do follow -ups once you have the loan we just don't say okay get along make your payments I don't know if you're making your payments because I receive bank statements monthly and we follow you we track

you for over the whole two year period and those are the things that we ask are you still employed okay we want to know that have you further your education a lot of people come in for instance they might be seeing a certified nursing assistant and they say they say they decide I kind of like this position I like doing nursing I like nursing so they might further education and be go for nursing and increase and go back to school and further education those are the things we'd like to see also individuals after two year period we track and see if their credit score has went up okay because if you come in a low credit score and you pay in your bills on time over to your period your credit score will increase and people are going on to purchase home home ownership a little more in depth than just a vehicle so how important is this as a step up for working poor people it's an excellent step it's giving you an opportunity to get transportation you have a lot more flexibility to travel outside of the norm okay you're building your credit and you have an opportunity to go back to school and you have dependency

independence more or less like if you have a child and you want to spend quality time with them you're not on you're not on public transportation for two and three hours you're home in a reasonable hour if you work a nine to five or eight to three you're home to pick that kid up and spend some quality time and sit down and actually do their homework with them so it can increase better family life too family exactly okay you mentioned public transportation I can remember when they were talking about bus cutbacks people who worked hard shifts will concern how they would get to work these are the kinds of people that you're trying to help right these are the people we have to help okay because people are obtaining employment and the sometimes public transportation doesn't coincide with their job schedule or when you first start a job you might be on a flex schedule okay you might work in a certain time in the morning and then next week they might change your time totally so this having a vehicle gives you that flexibility to be flexible okay just one more time quickly we'll have 30 seconds what need a person having hand when they give you a call okay call us you must be employed for three

months you must have a Pennsylvania driver's license and you must be able to demonstrate you can pay the loan back if you have any questions give us a call and we'll discuss with you and we're going more in depth with you all right green porter the loan officer for keys to success and more thank you very much we appreciate you being here and notifying our viewers of this service thank you to find out more about ways to work and keys to success and how you can get involved you can just simply give them a call at 1 866 965 5929 that's 1 866 965 5929 extension 615 extension 615 or you can visit them online at fswp .org want to find out what's going on in town and how you could be part of it all then check out our community calendar on the horizon if you have an event that you'd like to see listed send it to

on the horizon care of wqd Pittsburgh 4802 5th Avenue Pittsburgh PA 15213 today we're focusing on ways to help our viewers deal with the economic difficulties that are facing so many of us these days so if you missed it on Q Michael Bartley brings us a report on dental care for the underserved community 650 a .m. Lincoln Lemmington Pittsburgh Z stand look I have curlers in my hand joking about not being ready for our camera Yalanda Johnson just has to keep it moving busy fast pace who whips a whole dozen eggs on a Tuesday morning the mother of six kids that's it the first to appear just before seven is 14 year old Alexis then coming down the stairs little Kayla age five the baby of the Johnson family while eight year old

Zachary gets his hair brushed by dad Michael Johnson mom has to multitask preparing breakfast and answering non -stop questions oh you need your ponytail flat it okay we'll get it before you go out the door okay 12 year old Tyler appears then two more boys 10 year old Ryan and the oldest 15 year old Jeremy fixing their hair oh there's no more than 20 minutes for breakfast because it's almost time to go six kids perfect manners we welcome every single one of them is considered bright at school and with the stove clock reading 728 that leaves just two more minutes to get those teeth brushed one more time I heard your mother say make sure you brush your teeth before you go yeah I gotta do like

right after we do this I'm gonna head upstairs you did it so do the rest of the Johnson kids oh you should take care of yourself to make sure we take care of them someone told me once and I thought it was the cutest quote he said be true to your teeth or they'll be false to you so proper dental hygiene and oral care are priorities in this house not just because children who don't have proper dental care often miss school says Yalanda Johnson when I will go down she talks openly about her own grandmother who couldn't eat properly because she lost her teeth and had frequent oral infections and she died of complications from diabetes I've watched my grandmother have issues with her teeth and her health and then just seeing other people I don't want to be that person if you can't eat your food properly or if it hurts to chew and you don't eat we try to make sure the they keep their teeth in shape the kids grab up the book bags and dad drives the four youngest to Saint James

Elementary in Wilkinsburg the two oldest Alexis and Jeremy are enrolled in cyber school the Johnson's moved to Pittsburgh from Baltimore four years ago after Michael was laid off so we came to Pittsburgh to get a fresh start and so far things are going on a coordinate plan a little slower than the way I want it personally but Michael is still between jobs while Yalanda works full time as a receptionist and these parents who demand good dental hygiene from their kids know it goes far beyond just brushing teeth but when they moved to Pittsburgh they had no health insurance so how do you get a child to the dentist without insurance being underinsured or not having the money at all when we came here we didn't have jobs or anything so we applied for medical assistance for state insurance and we got that luckily there was a health and dental clinic a block away called the Lincoln Lemmington

Clinic it's a branch of the East Liberty Family Healthcare Center Yalanda walked in just went down the street and you know said do you take this like you know like scared like do you take this and you are underinsured right right I was I was just I didn't know who took medical assistance I didn't know you know will I be able to find a doctor easy or you know will it be hard and I was pleasantly surprised that they one had medical facilities right there and also that they had a dental office right there you know so I said great now I know we have a place to go but we have a place it's right down the street when you you don't have the insurance and so forth they still they make you feel welcome they make you feel at home the whole family still gets dental care here miss Johnson you were ready to come on back yes Yalanda comes for her twice a year checkup I need your teeth giving you any trouble no no any sensitivity

or anything and doctor Suzanne Maslow is the dentist here there was so much demand for dental care when this place opened nine years ago one full -time dentist was a must Maslow loves it fulfilling the dental needs of people who are otherwise afraid to go to a dentist because they can't afford it as a dentist what do you tell people who don't have the money who don't have the insurance to come and see you well our doors are open to anyone that needs help we do have a minimum payment per visit that we generally try to collect in order to get needs taken care of but if somebody comes without any money at all especially if it's an emergency and there's treatment that needs to be dealt with we will see them what if this place wasn't here this place wasn't here there'd be a lot of people out there that have a lot of tooth pain and a lot of other issues

health issues that are stemming from that research indicates that oral health is directly related to an individual's overall health linked to those serious conditions such as diabetes stroke heart and lung diseases and poor oral health can affect academic achievement in children this health care center is one of 21 across the state of Pennsylvania sharing new grant money 1 .9 million dollars from the high mark foundation to improve overall better access to dental care $147 ,000 of that money comes here Dr. Maslow says another full -time dentist will be hired and the clinic will reach out to other communities to expand dental care if you really look at it our head is attached to our body and it's really important especially for people with diabetes or people that have compromised health to come to the dentist and keep the teeth clean if they keep their teeth clean then that period on a disease will help them to

keep their diabetes under control and heart disease under control and other compromising health issues not to mention children who use this clinic so many kids with teeth problems not taking care of teeth they're out of school and they can develop health problems absolutely a lot of what we do here is education as well I know when I first started we had a number of patients that came like maybe once every five or six years what our goal is to get that space between when they come shortened all righty there ma 'am we'll get them to come before it hurts the very reason no teeth or gums are hurting for the Johnson kids it's important to keep everything you know helping I just want them to be happy I want them to be able to enjoy their lives so they can help other people enjoy their lives great story Michael thank you now if you'd like to

find out more about East Liberty family health care give them a call at 412 -661 -2802 that's 412 -661 -2802 or you can go to the WQED website and click the button for on cue when you see the search button just enter dental care and you'll find out all the info that you need speaking of finding out what you need the community college of Allegheny County has always been a resource for reasonably priced quality education now with their career transition center for dislocated workers they're helping the unemployed restart their lives joining us today to tell us more is CCA president Dr. Alex Johnson you get acclimated to the city yet Dr. Johnson pretty much so and certainly I have to commend people like you who made it possible for me to enter into the community fairly smoothly so it's been a year and I'm enjoying every minute of it

all right now you may not be our most well -known resource CCAC the institution you represent right but you're certainly one of our greatest in terms of the kinds of educational opportunities that you're providing especially when you care the compare the cost of going to a private institution to community college oh absolutely our education is first and foremost affordable and certainly individuals who attend CCAC get a quality experience as well whether they decide to transfer to a four -year institution or engage in a program that gets them directly in the workforce and we are becoming more well -known in fact we consider ourselves the college of first choice when it comes to workforce training and development and we have enrolled in our institution about 18 % of the graduating seniors from high schools in our service areas and and that compares favorably to any four -year institution that that that you have here in greater

alligator county you know I talk to principles of high schools I talk to other educators who talk about workforce development and how important that is for a region to have a workforce that's ready to go to help industry locate here and that sort of thing so you're rolling that sounds tremendous oh absolutely please be reminded Chris that 95 % of the individuals who complete their education at CCAC remain in our community that number is much higher than the graduate mother smile everywhere I know I am that number is much higher than the graduates of our four -year institutions and also they're able to secure quality jobs at very very reasonable wages and we're delighted to contribute to our community in that regard well you've seen the theme of this program is we're trying to get people to get to work in helping them with transportation with the keys to success programs those kinds of programs what are you doing for dislocated workers at the college? well as you know Chris we just introduced

the career transition center for dislocated workers back in February and that program is designed to provide individuals who have been laid off from their jobs over the last 12 months with an opportunity to develop skills that would and capabilities that would allow them to take on another position when the program was announced in collaboration with Allegheny County County exec Dan Anorado we immediately received 400 phone calls and today people want to go to work that's what you're finding out they want to go to work they don't want to less rest on the good graces of our taxpayers they want to be gainfully important employed and since that time we've received over 1600 inquiries in that program alone our first wave of programs five in fact were launched in March and we had 125 individuals who were

enrolled in those programs and we have a waiting list for those individuals who are interested in one program called information technology services another program is our certified nurse assistant program and in fact we graduated our first two classes and essentially all of those will be employed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center so there's a really market for there's a kind of training or absolutely these are high priority programs and they pay a living wage they pay a very very good wage and and I just want to share with the business owners who are who are viewing today that you're talking about individuals who are custom to performing well on the job all they are doing now is being retrained to take on other meaningful opportunities and they come up prepared with the employability skills that you you would expect from from veteran workers all right you call it a dislocated workers

program what do I have to prove to you that I've been laid off I just can't show them say they caught me sleeping on the job and I got laid off well that's that's absolutely correct first of all you have to present a letter to us certifying that you have been laid off for economic reasons and then we expect you to exhaust all of your financial opportunities including federally funded financial aid we ask you also to meet with representatives from career link which is a county and state funded entity and we also ask you to complete the program and to do the best that you can possibly do and represent CCAC well when you go out there and get that job now how does this work is this a tuition waiver it is a tuition waiver and the reason we can do it free of charge is because we because of the financial aid opportunities that I talk

to you about that are available to students also we are looking for support from foundations and other other entities like that and CCAC has made a commitment to cover the rest of the cost out of its current budget how are you able to stay ahead of the curve and know what kind of job opportunities are out there and be ready to train people to fit into well we we look that we look at the vital statistics that come from the federal and state labor departments we also talk to employers out there on a daily basis about the job opportunities that might be available and we just consider ourselves a very for lack of a better term a very prepared institution you're forward thinking we only have about 30 seconds left but you're also working with other agencies like BPEP to do other kinds of work with

BPEP which is the and CAV and also the Urban League to introduce a program I'll call the Young Adult Empowerment Program and that program does the same thing as our dislocated workers program but it does it for individuals between 17 and 24 who are under -employed around educated Dr. Johnson sounds like you're all doing great work at CCAC what thank you Chris for having us in this area thank you appreciate you coming back on the program you got it thank you very much all right to find out more about the career transition center for dislocated workers contact CCAC at 412 -788 -7351 that's 412 -788 -7351 or you can visit their website at ccaac .edu well that'll just about do it for this episode of Black Horizon thanks for joining us don't forget you can catch me on off cue Friday nights at 730 right here on WQED till then for all of us here at Black Horizon this is Chris Morseg have a great week bye bye

you say it was Spanish conquistadors

what Christopher Columbus himself threw water on that theory he wrote a letter to the king of Spain describing a tiny dog he discovered on his travels to the new world take this to the king down a dog in fact Chihuahua Sanctuary in the Americas dates back at least to a 9th century dog that all take called Tecici Tecici were loyal companions brave warriors spirit guides through the underworld even used as heatbags I think they're going to learn that to get dogs to act in a human way and hit marks and go is probably the most difficult thing that anybody could ask for but I don't think that they did it they couldn't have done a better job in this movie when you see how

how smooth and how seamless it all is the behind the scenes is going to show you what it takes and what the work is involves and getting something like that to look so natural I'm pretty sure that you'll see nature take its course in it and seven different dogs go in seven different directions I'm sure and running and having fun I think it's it's going to be great and you know there were so many dogs and everybody had a job to do I think the blooper scooper part will be my favorite part of the DVD there's a message of of independence there's a message of finding your voice I think in all kids a lot of time through peer pressure or through school or through just the overwhelmingness of being an adolescent that you kind of tend to get introverted and shy but you know this movie is about finding your own identity and finding your voice and speaking out loud and whether you're small you know you can be tiny and mighty first of all I mean who doesn't love dogs I mean and who

doesn't is a fan of movies of pets that speak I mean when I was growing up Mr. Ed was a horse that that talk is a great horse so so Chihuahua's are one of the cutest dogs I own three myself and you know it's Chihuahua had not been done until Beverly is Chihuahua so we did it we did it right and now you just added to all the collection of all the other of all the other animals that speak I love to see the bonus features especially to see the some directors that I like how they work or the light or the actors how they make their characters when you're watching the movie you can't you can't imagine what is going on just outside the frame there are so many besides the huge movie crew there are so many trainers that are hidden in the set and talking to the dogs we would be driving down the street in the convertible and there would be speakers over our head so that the

dog trainers can talk to the dogs in the car it's very elaborate yeah and also I think that when you see a movie it happens to me that I see in a scene I say how they do that I mean how they do that is seen and if they in the DVD bonus or something show you how to that that's wonderful for example there's a specific scene that we were in Mexico and I remember that we went we went to to to work to do something and there was this I see like a like some bird coming up from far far away highway and it was coming coming coming I said oh that's a camera yeah okay and there was like a huge construction to have to have this camera on the cable and it was only just like 500 meters just to come down and to see a dog yeah and just to

come and put all this huge part of Mexico just just for that and I said like wow wow our cinematographer Phil May he was the one who shot Casino Royale and he's amazing and to see if that kind of camera work when then he's going to get an animal's perspective he would do these shots that would be from a dog's perspective running through markets and when you watch the film if you're watching how they're shooting it looks impossible and when you see them rigging it it's incredible it's a movie that a kid want to want to see a lot of times and it's a it's a movie that can that it's like a family family reunion so it's a movie that you can you can watch one time two times three time four times six times and you're going to enjoy it I feel like also this movie is really such a postcard to Mexico and how beautiful Mexico

is they're going to get some behind the scenes look at what we did in Mexico they're going to get of course the deleted scenes and I'm going to have a little voice over talking about what we're trying to do and why it didn't work we're going to have the obvious bloopers we have dogs and human cast and a lot of fun stuff there I think when the audience sees the behind the scenes they're going to see what it's like to be working with dogs and you know what what you don't hear on the track now is the is the trainers going angel angel stop angel back back back angel over and sometimes you have three dogs working with scenes we have three trainers around all talking to their different animals and then you have like Jamie Lee and Piper trying to actually act through that and it sounds chaotic but we actually knew what we're doing most of the time