‘Build You’ a constructive effort: Sans Souci launches expanded employee training program

A new, enhanced Sans Souci training program called Build You will give workers added tools to better their employment and life. The effort kicks off with a public celebration at 9 a.m. Thursday at Sans Souci’s thrift shop at 1526 13th St. in Columbus.

Sans Souci board member Arturo Mijangos aptly summarized the nonprofit’s original training compared to what now will be called Build You.

“We originally described it as helping employees go from crisis all the way to stability,” Mijangos said. “And now (with Build You) we are enhancing that to go from stability to self-sufficiency.”

The new Build You program includes a variety of workshops on everything from finance to workplace communication, plus a paid, hourly employee externship with a partner agency, Arturo said. Sans Souci will pay the employee no matter who the externship employer is.

“Those (externship) will be a (job) tryout and a way for the employee to boost their self esteem,” Mijangos said.

Organizers plan for employee self-sufficiency through a series of individualized workshops and an externship with a partner employer. The enhanced pilot program will begin with three employees being selected in August, according to Jodie Eaken, the Build You coordinator.

“We purposely wanted to start with a small number so we could adequately focus on building the program,” Eaken said.

Sans Souci leaders describe self sufficiency as a point at which employees find a career of their choice giving them a living wage with benefits, as Eaken put it.

“There is a lot of hand holding at first,” Eaken said of basic worker training. “That’s because from their crisis point to stability, there is a lot going on. They may have recently been homeless, or just gotten out of prison, or maybe they’re on work release. They may begin with all kinds of barriers.

“And it takes them a while to get them to a point of stability.

“We want to see them get to the point where they don’t ever have to wonder where their next meal is coming from — and they really focus on building themselves.”

Eaken pointed out that employees currently all have require a different time frame to advance from crisis to stability.

“The time frame depends upon where they’re at the beginning to what their specific goals are,” Eaken said.

She added that it is anticipated that many workers will go through the Build You workshops in about 18 months.

“We are very optimistic because we’ve already had success stories coming out of Sans Souci with other employees,” Mijangos said.

One of those is a man who, with Sans Souci’s help to stabilize his finances and credit score, launched an auto window tinting business in about a year’s time and found success and satisfaction.

“For some people, something like that could take a lot longer,” said Sheryl Adams, Sans Souci’s executive director. “But it does take the whole community. We work with a lot of other agencies to help these employees overcome their barriers.”

Sans Souci employees soon will fill out applications for a chance to be part of the pilot program. Eaken and an employee development committee will select the three who will be the first to go through the training, according to Adams.

She added that the first workshop/class on finance led by First Financial Bank is scheduled Aug. 22.

“We don’t want our employees to stay here (at the thrift store),”Adams said. “We want them to eventually be able to go into the Build You program and then move into the career field that they want to.”