In Attendance
- Jessica Allred, Missoula Food Bank
- Wolf Ametsbichler, Missoula Job Service
- Sundee Carr, Missoula Pre-Release Center
- Michelle Dorsey, Missoula Job Service
- Maggie Driscoll, Human Resource Council Dist. XI
- Wendy Mair, REO
- Michelle Parks, Child Care Resources
- Jodi Rasmussen, Lifelong Learning Center
- Theresa Sanford, Dress for Success Missoula
- Vida Wilkinson, Missoula College UM
- Michael Williams, Missoula Job Service
Agenda/Updates
Crosstraining AcademyThe Crosstraining Academy will be held Thursday, October 24 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. at The Lifelong Learning Center. This year there will be only one session, and the event will be open to the public again. Volunteer greeters will be needed to help direct attendees to various parts of the event. Michelle Dorsey will track table registrations. Attendees will not need to register for the event, only organizations wishing to have a table.
Folders will be handed out to attendees once again. Agencies wishing to have materials in the folder can bring handouts to The Lifelong Learning Center by Thursday, October 17. One hundred and fifty copies of handouts will be needed for the folders.
Theresa Sanford – Dress for Success Missoula
Dress for Success was founded in July of 2012 after many months of hard work by President and CEO Theresa Sanford. Just a year later, over 20 referral agencies are on board. Dress for Success’ mission is to promote the economic independence of professional women by providing them with professional attire and support. Dress for Success plans to expand their services to include how to get a job, keep a job and get promoted in the professional workplace. Theresa brings many years of professional experience as owner of a mortgage company in Denver.
When a partner agency refers a woman to Dress for Success, Dress for Success staff meet with her to find the perfect interview outfit from their donations. When she lands her new job, she can return to Dress for Success to receive a week’s worth of outfits. Accessories, including purses and jewelry, are provided to the clients along with a haircut and makeup tutorial. Everything she receives she gets to keep, free of charge.
To support Dress for Success, like the LC Staffing Facebook page. Every new like in September is a dollar donated towards helping women in our community. The Power Walk will be held on September 22 to benefit Dress for Success. For more information on The Power Walk or Dress for Success, visit Dress for Success Missoula online at www.dressforsuccess.org/missoula.
Jessica Allred – Missoula Food Bank
Missoula Food Bank has begun the search for a new location. Ideally, a new home for Missoula Food Bank would be 10,000 to 15,000 square feet and located close to where the majority of their clients live. Missoula Food Bank plans to hold focus groups with partner agencies to discuss possible collaborations—please look forward to invitations.
Missoula Food Bank is inviting service providers and experts to join a new initiative to end food insecurity in Missoula. Missoula Partnership to End Hunger’s initial meeting is Wednesday, October 9 from 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. at the Missoula Federal Credit Union office at 3600 Brooks Street.
The number of people needing food assistance isn’t increasing as rapidly as recent years. The Missoula Food Bank hopes to see a plateau in the near future.
Vida Wilkinson – Missoula College UM
Upward Bound classes are now only held twice per year, in the fall and spring. Upward Bound classes are designed for veterans interested in going to college. For more information, visit www.vubmt.com.
Missoula College is investigating a new grant to serve the offender community.
Michelle Parks – Child Care Resources
Child Care Resources is busy with the new school semester. This year the budget increased slightly, allowing CCR to advertise for a new child care provider coach. The skill set is very specific, so the applicant pool is still small.
Wendy Mair – Rural Employment Opportunities
Bruce Day, executive director of REO Montana is moving on. This is his last week with REO. Naomi Leifson, program director, will serve as interim director until a replacement is found. REO is waiting on two grant applications and further information about the status of the Match Savings program, one of their core programs. The National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP) remains stable. In other states, REO staff work closely with local farmers and ranchers to help their staff. REO is looking to do the same thing here in Montana.
Sundee Carr – Missoula Pre-Release
Most people are unaware that Missoula Correctional Services is the private, non-profit organization that Missoula Pre-Release works under. The Mullan Road building houses 57 employees. There are seven other programs located at their Mullan Road facility, including adult and juvenile community service, enhanced supervision, misdemeanor supervision and the SAP program, which requires participants to come to the office and take a breathalyzer test twice a day. Each test is $3, but the alternative is often returning to jail.
Missoula Correctional Services is currently hiring a treatment coordinator, and recently filled a case management opening. Openings are posted with the Missoula Job Service, in the paper and online.
Wolf Ametsbichler – Missoula Job Service
Missoula Job Service is in the final stages of reorganizing the Employment Specialist staff into two core focuses: outreach and business services, and job seeker services. Kristi Harman, supervisor from the Missoula Job Service Palmer office, will join the Third Street location on September 10 to supervise the job seeker services group. Mike Williams, employment specialist at the Third Street office, will become interim supervisor for the outreach and business services group due to the departure of Saundra Long. Saundra leaves the Missoula Job Service to take the position of Family Resource Specialist at Russell school and to pursue her master’s degree. Her last day will be Friday, September 13.
Additional office changes include the removal of the job board next week. Missoula is one of the last Job Service offices in the state to maintain a job board. Over the next couple of months, new computers will be added to accommodate the additional numbers of job seekers searching online. Testing computers will be moved into the area the job board currently occupies, along with a help desk.
Missoula’s unemployment rate is down to 4.6 percent. Wages are slowly starting to creep up and job orders remain steadily above 500. Energy demand is driving job growth in the state. Many local businesses are opening offices in Billings.
Jodi Rasmussen – The Lifelong Learning Center
The transition from the GED test to HiSET continues. LLC will pursue approval to offer the HiSET test next week in Helena. GED testing will end in December, but HiSET testing will begin sometime in October or November. The HiSET test is very similar to the GED test. Hopefully test takers will be able to combine their scores from the GED with their HiSET scores to receive one diploma if they cannot complete the GED in time. Both paper and computer testing will be offered for the HiSET exam. Something to keep in mind is if the test taker opts to take the computer exam, they must also complete the essay section on computer. Registration for the HiSET test may be completely online.
LLC has moved to publishing six catalogs per year. The next catalog will be published in October and contain courses for November and December. The increased frequency will allow more flexibility with scheduling.
