ESC Annual Report 2018

ECONOMIC & FAMILY SOLUTIONS
Workforce Investment staff,
Missouri Vocational Rehabilitation
and Compass Quest.
Many low income people have
barriers to finding work. When a
person is homeless those barriers
can be even greater. Economic
Security Corporation of Southwest
Area’s (ESC) Comprehensive
Homeless Assistance for New
Career Employment (CHANCE)
program offers a comprehensive
approach to helping homeless
individuals overcome some of
these barriers and obtain full
time employment and permanent
housing. This program has three
The U.S. Department of Housing
and Urban Development, Housing
Choice Voucher’s (HCV), Family Self
Sufficiency (FSS), Economic Security
Corporation of Southwest Area
and Jasper County Public Housing
phases; the first phase is an
80-hour life skills employment
workshop that covers all aspects
of how to look for a job to
obtaining work. Some of the skills
that are learned include filling out
paper and on-line job applications
correctly, building skills for a
resume and mock interviewing.
The CHANCE program’s case
manager is also a job developer
and housing specialist, who work
with several employers, landlord
and resource providers and/or
individuals in the community who
are guest speakers who work with
the class covering areas such as
success in the workplace, mental
Is It Time For A New Beginning?
Agency all work together to give
working families who are currently
receiving HCV rental assistance an
additional boost to reduce their
dependence on outside resources
to make ends meet. Those enrolled
health awareness and how to
access community resources.
in the program work with FSS staff
to set achievable goals toward their
family’s self-sufficiency. For some,
those goals may be employment
related and for others it may be
educational or housing. It may even
be all three of these and something
else uniquely identified by the
family’s circumstances. Whatever
goals are developed, FSS staff
stays in touch with periodic followup
meetings to encourage and
support the family to meet their
targeted goals.
In addition, the Family Self-
Sufficiency program would
not be successful without its
community business partners: U.S.
Bank, Crowder College’s TRIO
Opportunity, Workforce Investment
Board, Consumer Credit
Counseling and Head Start to
name a few. They assist the families
with improving their credit scores,
setting and keeping a budget,
improving employment skills and
increasing education.
25