Flagship Help Center, a for the unemployed in northeast Denver, honored those who changed their lives for the better and those who helped them make the change at its annual recognition breakfast last week.
Though the U.S. Department of Labor’s preliminary numbers put the unemployment rate in Denver, Aurora and Broomfield as of September, joblessness still has a very real effect on Denver residents. Unemployment has been linked to other social issues including domestic violence. According to the , women whose partners experienced two or more periods of joblessness over a 5-year study were almost three as likely to be victims of intimate violence.
And that makes unemployment a cause to fight for, akin to breast-cancer and domestic violence awareness, Flagship Help Center executive director Nancy Strudwick said.
Operating under the motto that “Everyone has Worth,” the center focuses on providing job readiness training, GED diploma preparation, job placement and youth programming and other resources. In the past year, Flagship Help Center has helped 480 people find full-time jobs.
The Oct. 15 celebrated the spirit of service displayed by the center and its partners. Flagship Board Member Betty Doris presented two of those partners with awards: the City Center Denver Marriott and the Denver Office of Economic Development.
Another partner helping Flagship make a difference is the Chamber of Commerce Leadership Foundation’s Chamber Connect program, which helps develop minority youth into tomorrow’s leaders.
The program lasts 10 months, during which the participants learn business leadership, community leadership, personal leadership and political leadership skills. During the course of the program, they take on two community service projects. This year, they chose Flagship’s annual recognition breakfast as one of their projects.
Ed Wingfield, Chamber Connect program president and former Flagship board member, said being engaged in the community is a point of emphasis for the program.
“One thing that we always try to task them with is making sure that you’re always giving back to the community,” Wingfield said. “No matter how successful you become, it should always be a piece of who you are as a leader.”
As part of the project, Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce Leadership Foundation member Keyana Brown was recruited to open the events. The program’s participants also helped to restructure Flagship’s GED preparedness program.
Jovan Vigil, a recent graduate of Flagship’s GED prep program, shared her story at the breakfast. Vigil dropped out of high school at the age of 17 to take care of her younger siblings. For the next fifteen years, Vigil was a stay-at-home mom first to her siblings and then to her own children. At age 32, Vigil decided finish her education. She said she was apprehensive about taking numerous tests as part of the GED prep program.
But when she passed the tests, she was elated, realizing that she is smart despite her unorthodox schooling. She finished the program Thursday. Vigil described the group that gave her a new lease on life as family.
“They’re my family, no matter what,” she said.
That sense of family and connectedness within the community in the wake of the economic downturn was the focal point of the keynote address delivered by .
A small business owner and the current chair of the House Business, Labor, Economic and Workforce Development Committee, Williams has spent her political career dealing with economic issues including ensuring the health and safety of Colorado workers and eliminating red tape for small business owners. This legislative session, Williams helped push multiple bills through the House, including employers to provide more doctors to those who have been injured on the job.
Reflecting on her own work — and the work Flagship has done — Williams said the service she and community entities provide must be an ongoing, collaborative effort.
“Service is no longer a singular event or an individual pursuit,” she said.
Williams went on to quote Mahatma Gandhi saying, “the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
In that vein of service, Flagship has sent 519 people to employment training at partner sites and provided resume and job search assistance to nearly 2,000 people in the past year alone.
The center hopes to continue its standard of service by raising $150,000 by Jan. 1.
Hugh Johnson: 303-954-1037, hjohnson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/HughJohnsonDP
