Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 11, Number 4, 1 April 1994 — Ka nūhou mai Alu Like News from Alu Like [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Ka nūhou mai Alu Like News from Alu Like

(presented by Ka Wai Ola O OHA and Alu Like as a public service)

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Alu Like's Employment and Training Program gets Hawaiians on the job

When 19-year-old Kalani Uwekoolani walked into Alu Like's Maui Island Center he had been unemployed for two months and had begun to worry about whether he would be able to support his wife and five-month-old baby. The next day Alu Like arranged for an interview at a loeal company. The following day he was back on

the job. Uwekoolani is one of thousands of Hawaiians who have taken advantage of Alu Like's 16y e a r - o 1 d Employment and T r a i n i n g Program, the oldest and most well-known of the agency's activities. The program. funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, runs four projects: On-the-Job Training, Work Experience ( WEX), Classroom Training, and Summer Youth. Its On-the-Job

Training project helps Hawaiians find work at suitable companies then pays half their salary for a maximum of six months. It is a statewide project that offers a variety of occupations, from entry level to management. Potential employees work closely with Alu Like's employment specialists to try and match their skills and goals with interested companies.

To be eligible, applicants must be lower ineome native Hawaiians over ihe age of 18. They also must have been unemployed for seven or more days or be underemployed (working less than 20 hours a week). Before starting work, applicants sit down with an Alu Like employment specialist and try to determine what they want to do. now, and in the future, and the skills they have to help them with their job search. Following this employees are matched up with companies that are working with Alu Like in the project. After completion of the training contract, the employer is encouraged to hire the worker on as a full-time employee. "We really expect the employer to retain the employee," says Winona Whūman, Alu Like's Employment and Training administrator. "We expect a commitment."

In most cases employers do hire the Alu Like worker. Explains Whiīman, "While our emphasis is on the employee, our project benefits both sides, the worker and the company." Alu Like's Work Experience project also provides valuable work training and has a maximum six-month term. The projects differ in that WEX participants' salaries eome solely from Alu Like. Also, participants ean

only work at non-profit organizations or for the government and are only paid minimum wage. "WEX is heavily used by our Summer Youth project participants," Whitman says, pointing out, "it isn't easy for young people to get jobs in private industry and it helps them learn basic skills." Alu Like's Classroom Training is a financial assistance project that provides a maximum of $500 per semester for any eligible native Hawaiian interested in attending college. Applicants ean be already enrolled in college or interested in continuing their education. Eligibility requirements are the

same as those for the WEX and On-the-Job Training projects. "It is a reflection of Alu Like's emphasis on combining education with job training," says Whitman. Last year the Classroom Training project assisted nearly 1 .000 Hawaiian students. The summer youth project works with the On-the-Job Training, WEX, and Classroom Training projects to help young Hawaiians improve their work skills and education levels. Eligibility requirements are similar to other projects except that applicants must be between 14 and 21 years old.

Employment and Training program participant Kalani Uwekoolani.