Goodwill: An employment lifeline

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When he got the job, Tanner Veik figured he had it made.

It wasn't anything particularly glamorous or exciting: a part-time gig as a custodian at a big suburban bookstore.

But for Veik, a 21-year-old with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and high-functioning autism, this was big. For months, he'd been working on his interview skills, fixing up his résumé and figuring out what kind of job might suit him best. He liked the order and the quiet of bookstores and saw this job as a steppingstone to something full time and permanent.

Then Veik and his co-workers at the Borders at Shadow Lake Towne Center got the news: Their store was closing. So were all the other Borders stores in the country. Once the going-out-of-business sales were finished, they were all going to have to start over.

"It was upsetting, like a punch in the stomach," he said. "I'm like, 'I got this job and after less than a year, I lose it?' "

The last operating Borders stores, including the one at Shadow Lake in Papillion, closed their doors over the weekend. Now, Veik is one of about 80 employees from the three Omaha-area Borders locations — and one of the more than 10,000 people once employed by the chain across the country — who are figuring out what comes next.

The future is still uncertain, but Veik is hopeful that the skills he picked up on the job and through a Goodwill Industries training program will provide enough momentum to keep him going.

With a 4.2 percent unemployment rate — compared with the national average of 9.1 percent — Nebraska is in a better spot than most states when it comes to jobs.

Still, this isn't the best time to be looking for work, particularly if you've got some big hurdles to jump.

Young people have been unemployed at a higher rate than other workers throughout the recession. Among young workers ages 16 to 24, it surged to 19.1 percent in July 2010 and was down, but only slightly this July, to 18.1 percent.

For some groups, like those with disabilities, securing employment can be even more of a battle.

High school was tough for Veik, who graduated from Bellevue East in 2009. It might have been helpful to get some experience and build up a résumé with part-time work, but surviving in the classroom was a full-time job of its own.

"I was too busy trying to get passing grades," he said.

When he finished school, Veik was ready to join the workforce but quickly grew frustrated.

He stopped into stores and fast-food restaurants but found that many were not hiring. Many of those that had jobs wanted people with experience. The few that granted him an interview never called to offer a job. He eventually found work as a janitor at a school, but only for a summer.

Employers wanted him to take tests and fill out forms to show that he'd be a good fit for the job. Veik wanted to just show them that he was a hard worker, that the challenges he faced in the classroom or in social interactions didn't mean that he couldn't sweep floors or stock shelves better than anyone else.

He needed some help bridging that gap — and he's not alone, said Shari Albert, a rehabilitation services manager at Goodwill Industries.

The nonprofit group offers job preparation services to teens and adults in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa. Many of its services are funded with grants from the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice, among other agencies.

For several years, Goodwill has provided job help to people with disabilities, but this spring it expanded its reach when it began offering services at the Greater Omaha One-Stop Career Center at 24th and Lake Streets. Those services are paid for with money funneled through the U.S. Labor Department's Workforce Investment Act.

That location has helped increase the number of participants in the group's employment programs — from fewer than 2,000 in the first eight months of both 2009 and 2010 to nearly 10,000 people in the same period this year.

While many of those people don't have a specific disability, they often face other challenges, Albert said.

"Tanner represents someone with a barrier to overcome, but there are barriers there for anyone, whether it is being unemployed or undereducated," she said.

Goodwill offers a free program called READY — Real Employment Assistance for Developing You — that provides one-on-one consulting and classes for anyone in need of help finding a job.

Some of the participants are referred to more specific programs, like the one Veik has been a part of: "Projects With Industry."

That program is aimed at teens and young adults, ages 17 to 21, who are making the leap from school to work, as well as adults who are referred by vocational rehabilitation programs. Participants are matched with an employment specialist, who assesses the job seeker's skills and interests and figures out what they need to know to get an edge in an interview or on an application.

People in the program have found work in a variety of businesses, from pharmacies to restaurants to hotels.

Bernadette Leehy, human resources manager at the Sheraton Omaha Hotel, said she hired a participant in May to work as a dishwashing steward. She said it was obvious that he'd learned the right skills for the interview — and that she's been impressed with his hard work since he was hired.

"He knew how to do well in an interview," she said. "A lot of (job candidates) don't, and that made the difference."

Goodwill Employment Specialist Tim Suelter was matched up with Veik last spring. He said he discovered early on that Veik was highly motivated to work and already had many of the skills he'd need to find a job and keep it. What he needed was a little finesse — and some encouragement.

"The focus is strength-based: You find out what that person already has and then you want them to develop it," Suelter said.

Together, they figured out the kind of place where Veik would like to work — bookstores and libraries, which he said he finds soothing, were a top pick — and got to work. When Veik got an interview with Borders in January, he said he felt more ready then ever, if still a bit nervous.

Suelter came along to sit in on the interview, though Veik did all the talking.

When it was over, Veik had a job offer. He started the next day.

"I insisted on that," he said. "I was ready to get to work."

After he heard about Borders' plans to close, Veik started looking for work — and this time, he did it on his own. He found a job with a cleaning company and worked a few shifts but hasn't been able to get enough hours to make it work.

Over the last few weeks, as the books and CDs and DVDs began to disappear and the store started selling shelves and tables and light fixtures, Veik found himself getting sad and frustrated. He wants to find another bookstore job, but he knows those are getting harder to come by. He admits that he's worried that if he sets his hopes too high, he'll end up disappointed.

Still, he's going to keep looking for something that might fit just as well.

"I haven't given up," he said.

Contact the writer:

402-444-1543, erin.golden@owh.com

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