About nine months ago Beau Woodward, 23, found himself unemployed. He had just been let go from his job,  and as a high school dropout, his job options were limited – especially with the economy in shambles.

The traditional methods of job-hunting weren’t working for him, but he was able to turn things around for himself, and today he is not only gainfully employed as an emergency medical technician at Mohawk Ambulance, but he has his GED.

A friend of his, who works for Mohawk Ambulance and had once been in a situation similar to his, told him about the job track she took. She participated in a program through Northeast Parent & Child Society called YouthBuild Schenectady.

“It’s exciting,” said Woodward of his new job. “You feel like you’re helping someone every day, and you are in most cases. It’s just a really exciting job. There is a lot of downtime to it, but when you’re on calls it’s really great.”

YouthBuild Schenectady is generally a 12-month program that helps young adults, aged 18-24, from Schenectady County earn their GEDs while getting paid to build affordable housing for others. Participants also receive six months of classroom instruction, onsite construction training and six months of job placement and support services. The program also offers opportunities for students to attend college and participate in advanced training programs, including computer training. Woodward started with a construction job, which he enjoyed, but said he decided that he wanted to switch to the EMT track. He plans to eventually become a fire fighter. Receiving his EMT certification is the first step.

A partnership between Northeast Parent & Child Society and Mohawk Ambulance will help make that happen.

“The students and Mohawk participate in an educating process to make sure that we have students who are entering the EMT track that will be capable of completing the EMT track. It’s a tougher track than some of the other courses they offer,” said  Daniel Gilmore, director of operations for Mohawk Ambulance.

Students who participate in this track of study have to commit about 260 hours of various types of instruction, including classroom time and clinical time spent out on the field.   

“They have to learn anatomy, physiology, medical language – stuff like that,” said Woodward.

The EMT class that YouthBuild students take is run by Schenectady County Community College just for YouthBuild students.

“It’s a course that has been modified from the traditional course in that in the normal EMT course, New York state curriculum is a 120-hour course, and that includes your classroom lectures, your lab, and in the traditional EMT course, your observation in the field,” said Woodward.

The YouthBuild EMT course includes 120 hours of classroom time in addition to field work, which is about 50 hours versus 10.

“Unlike the traditional EMT student, who is not covered by insurance, who cannot practice, who is there to observe, the YouthBuild students actually have a medical malpractice policy carried by the college and they can do 120 hours of on-the-job internship with actual patient care, so it’s a much more involved EMT course,” said Woodward.

The course these students take is also used as a screening process to see which students are fit to work as EMTs.

If the students complete the New York State EMT curriculum and sit for the New York State EMT certification exams and pass them, they become a New York State basic EMT. During their internship with Mohawk Ambulance, if they have demonstrated good work skills, attendance and performance, they will be offered a job. Everyone – regardless of how they are hired – starts out as part-time employees with Mohawk, working about 30 hours a week. When full-time jobs become available, everyone is invited to apply.

Mohawk Ambulance currently employs seven YouthBuild graduates.

“I’m thankful I went through the whole construction thing, and then another opportunity came up for the EMT course so I went for it,” said Woodward. “I eventually want to become a firefighter, and to be a firefighter you have to be a paramedic first, and to be a paramedic you have to be an EMT.”

Woodward said he is going to take courses to become a paramedic in the future, partially thanks to Mohawk Ambulance’s tuition reimbursement program.

“I always knew I wanted to become a cop or a firefighter, and I talked to my mom and she said, ‘You are not becoming a cop. It’s too dangerous,’” said Woodward.

Woodward said part of the motivation to keep coming back was that he was getting paid the entire time he was in the YouthBuild program.

“It makes you want to show up every day,” said Woodward. “If anyone doesn’t have their GED and is looking for work and wants to get paid and go to school, definitely sign up for the YouthBuild program because it’s definitely worth it – 100 percent,” said Woodward.

Gilmore said that when hiring YouthBuild students, Mohawk knows exactly what it’s getting.

“For us, as an employer, it gives us the ability to have quite a lengthy interview with our perspective employees. Normally the interview process is an hour or 30 minutes, and you’re making a decision on paperwork and a little face to face time,” said Gilmore.

He added that perspective employees are probably putting on their best face – which is easy to do in a 30-minute interview.   

“With YouthBuild students, we’re working off 170 hours of contact with our management and other employees here. By the time they finish the course, we know them pretty well,” said Gilmore.

Eligible youth must be between the ages of 18 and 24, must be high school drop-outs, members of low-income families and residents of Schenectady County.

For more information on the program or Northeast Parent & Child Society, visit their Web site at www.neparentchild.org. You can contact news@spotlightnews.com with any questions. Also, feel free to post comments below. Comments powered by Disqus

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