Sitting in the shadow of East Rock, one of the most desirable neighborhoods in New Haven, CT, is Newhallville, a section of the city that has seen more than its share of drug activity and violence, including a rash of murders, the latest one on July 5. In comparison to East Rock residents who are 80 percent white, Newhallville residents are 80 percent black. The unemployment rate in East Rock is 1.6 percent, and 9.5 percent in Newhallville. (Source: Connecticut Center for a New Economy).
Newhallville is also home to a large number of individuals with a criminal history, including newly released inmates. With an unemployment rate higher than the national average, and residents with little or no work experience, anger and frustration rise off the neighborhood streets like steam on a sweltering summer day. Many Newhallville reentrants are desperate to find work and are seeking ways that may improve their chances.
Enter the husband and wife team of Keith Providence and Lula Mullins. Almost three years ago Providence and Mullins sat at a New Haven Reentry Roundtable meeting to learn about agencies that could help them with funding for expanding their small deconstruction business so that they could train and hire those with a criminal record, giving reentrants a second chance. Deconstruction workers take down and existing building and salvage recyclable components. Eventually Providence and Mullins found their way to Connecticut’s Business Resource Center (BRC) to pitch their idea. While speaking with Kim Hawkins, BRC’s director, Providence mentioned that he was certified in OSHA 10 and 30 training and, as luck would have it, that is exactly what BRC needed. BRC now provides funding for Providence Install, LLC to provide OSHA training in the business trades and for Mullin’s New Haven’s Environmental Protectors, which provides OSHA training or information in fields such as cosmetology, hospitality and janitorial/maintenance services. Mullins is about to begin providing informational OSHA classes to a New Haven agency that services predominately Latino clients. Most people, says Mullins, don’t realize that OSHA regulations apply to just about every occupation, not just construction and other building trades.
Having an OSHA10 certificate, or its equivalent, is necessary before one is hired to work on most building trades worksites. OSHA inspectors make surprise inspections to work sites, and if an employee doesn’t have the proper certification, the employer faces steep fines and if OSHA violations are found, in some instances a job can be shut down.
On a recent July afternoon seven men and two women sat in a small classroom in Newhallville listening as Providence taught a class on electrical hazards. All of the students had a criminal history. All of them were there because they wanted to better themselves and stay out of prison. Some were referred to Providence and Mullins by parole officers, Columbus House, a New Haven homeless shelter, or by Easter Seals Goodwill Industries. Others heard of the classes that Providence and Mullins provide through word-of- mouth.
When asked why they came to this certification class a young man in an orange and white shirt stated that he was promised a job if he could get an OSHA 10 certificate. A few others, including a young woman who aced a quiz that Providence gave a few minutes before, said the same thing. Another young man said that he took courses in the building trades at a nearby technical school but after graduation he went to prison and now that he is out he wants to get an OSHA 10 certificate that would help him get a job so he could put the skills he learned in school to use.
When asked, all of the students felt that their criminal convictions were a major barrier to finding employment. The OSHA 10 and OSHA 30 classes, they felt, were beneficial to both themselves and an employer. Obtaining an OSHA 10 certificate, they all agreed, gives them more confidence when applying for a job. The certificate represents an accomplishment, which can be empowering.
Having a criminal history, even if was thirty years ago, made it difficult to find a decent job, said 50 year-old Brenda Osborn. But that doesn’t keep her from trying. Osborn hopes that obtaining an OSHA 10 certificate will lead to a better paying job in the construction field, and will show her family that she is still striving to improve herself. Osborn knows that at her age, and with a past criminal history, she faces chalnges. Still, she jumped at the chance to improve her odds. Sitting in the classroom, she is grateful to take part in the learning experience, and is an eager student, as are the others that surround her.
Of course, obtaining an OSHA 10 certificate does not mean one will automatically get hired, nor does it provide a guarantee that one will not go back to prison. But, for the students who paid $10 to take the OSHA classes taught by Providence and Mullins, the desire to improve themselves, and the hope that their future will be better, drives them to believe that this small investment in their future will yield the second chance that they seek, and deserve.
Contact information:
Lula Mullins, New Haven’s Environmental Protectors, Inc., (203) 508-5796 or lulamullins@gmail.com
Keith Providence, Providence Install, LLC, (646)-573-0308
|
|
|
|
