GROCERYworks is on to Something Good

Kay Solomon emigrated from Trinidad to Brooklyn seven months ago, faced with the challenge of finding employment in a city where unemployment hovered at 9.5 percent. 

She searched for four months before landing the cashier position she holds today.

Thanks to GROCERYworks, a new initiative of The Hope Program, not only is Solomon gainfully employed at a job with benefits and union membership, she also has aspirations to get her GED diploma, so she can go to college and study business management.

“It was a huge help in getting me out into the job world,” said the 35-year-old Bed-Stuy resident. “Without it, I wouldn’t be here.”

GROCERYworks is an eight-week program that trains qualified job seekers in New York City and prepares them for positions in the food retail industry. Students gain knowledge in customer service, cashiering, product recognition and store maintenance. They also obtain licenses in occupational safety and food handling.

Long after the eight weeks are over, students can still count on the people at The Hope Program to provide them with additional guidance and job-retention skills. For people like Kay, the steady support is a stepping stone to a promising future.

“We were looking for innovative, creative ways to pilot effective training programs in an industry that would offer Hope students a real opportunity to have career advancement potential,” said Tracey Allard, employment director at The Hope Program.

GROCERYworks’s inaugural class started in October 2010, two months after The Hope Program received a $50,000 grant from the New York City Council. GROCERYworks is part of City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn’s FoodWorks program, a comprehensive plan designed to create jobs and improve public health in New York City.

Fourteen of the 15 students in the first class are now employed in one of the 15 grocery stores that are partnered with GROCERYworks. There are 18 students in the current session. Interested grocery store owners can simply call Hope to get involved. However, the screening process for potential students is more rigorous.

Candidates, typically referred to the program through social services, are subjected to four hours of math and reading tests and one-on-one interviews. Qualifications include reading and math comprehension at a sixth-grade level and a substance-free bill of health of at least four months. 

Sixty percent of students do not have a high school diploma, 60 percent have past convictions and 40 percent have a history of substance abuse. But the leaders at The Hope Program are not intimidated by these statistics.

“We’ve done a great job at identifying the people who would do well,” said Allard, who cites good people skills as an immeasurable qualifier that contributes to a student’s successful experience with GROCERYworks.

They also place a heavy emphasis on customer service skills, according to Allard. 

“The most important thing I learned, and I’m going to carry it with me, from the GROCERYworks program is the customer service aspect,” said Soloman.

The trainers at GROCERYworks consulted with storeowners, industry experts and union leaders to design the program’s curriculum. This has helped GROCERYworks win support and praise from the food retail industry.

“I know I am going to get well trained, well versed people, which is great” said Phillip Penta Jr., owner of Three Guys From Brooklyn, where Solomon is a cashier, along with two other graduates from the program. “Hopefully they can move up within the ranks and become management.”

According to Allard, it was her contacts at United Food and Commercial Workers Union Local 1500 that helped The Hope Program connect with the New York City Council, a fruitful relationship that eventually led to the generous grant.

“This program will not only train those to excel in the retail food industry, it will also ensure that customers will get the best in service which in turn will generate revenue for businesses,” said Patrick Purcell, Assistant to the President of UFCW Local 1500, in a statement.

For Solomon, the program generates opportunities and a bright future. She says she will return to The Hope Program to take computer and GED classes.

But for now, she dons a green apron with a logo that reads “Three Guys From Brooklyn,” and gets ready for her shift.  She is shy, but warm and friendly -- qualities that Allard looks for in potential candidates.

Allard says the future of GROCERYworks is just as bright.

“I think we are on to something good, and we are excited to see it grow."