Experience Works, Inc. is a National grantee of funding through the Department of Labor as part of the Title V – Older Americans Act; working within the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), and the program serves 34 counties in Wisconsin and is present in 30 states and Puerto Rico on the national level. This year the program is celebrating its 50^th anniversary.

Often times folks who are over 55 and unemployed find it difficult to re-enter the workforce; Experience Works not only provides training and work experience to help these types of citizens become more employable, but they are often assigned to train at local non-profits and government agencies at no cost to the agency, which allows them to provide services to their community.

Eligible candidates are those who are 55 years and over, unemployed, and receive low income but are seeking employment and income. Experience Works becomes a partner in the applicant’s job search. The overall purpose of the program is to try and help them move forward and become job ready, so participants receive help with resume writing, interviewing skills, training and education programs, etc. While participating in the program the participants are paid minimum wage.

As part of the training, participants receive a 20-hour per week public service training assignment for up to 4 years, but the desired turnaround time for a program participant is typically 2 years.  As the participant is learning new skills they are in return providing a valuable service to the community. Organizations that were represented at the Optimist meeting such as AVAIL, the Boys and Girls Club, Habitat for Humanity and local county government are examples of the kind of organizations that can participate in the assignments.  Training available includes: maintenance, office/administrative & customer service, kitchen workers, retail, and information and referrals at welcome centers to name a few.

To learn more about Experience Works, Inc. call Donna Thonne-Robinson at 715-732-7840. Guests are welcome at Optimists meetings, which are held every Tuesday at noon at the North Star Lanes in Antigo.