Willing and A.B.L.E. State-funded program for older Workers seeks nonprofit employers

By Christina Torode
STAFF WRITER

Every time Marie Quigg, 56, went on a job interview, she couldn’t shake the feeling that her age was reason she wasn’t being hired.

“I had been looking for two years, and every time they said I didn’t have the right skills, but then they’d hire a young did without skills,” said Quigg, who lives in Haverhill with her husband, Edward.

“I don’t have specific training, but I’ve done a lot of things and they didn’t take that experience into consideration,” Quigg said.

Potential employers also didn’t want to take the time to train her, she said, but while flipping through cable TV channels she came across a local group that did.

The ad she happened to catch was for Operation A.B.L.E. (Ability Based on Long Experience), a state-funded organization that helps mature workers, age 45 and above, learn new skills to re-enter the work force.

Through its Senior Community Service Employment Program, Operation A.B.L.E. places candidates in jobs with local nonprofits and government agencies, and with state funds pays the worker’s $6.75 hourly wage while the employer provides on-the-job skills training. Operation A.B.L.E. also provides individuals with career counseling, skills training and access to job searches out of local career centers such as the Valleyworks Career Center in Haverhill, and the North Shore Career Centers in Salem and Gloucester.

The organization is on the hunt for nonprofits interested in hiring and training people in their program, particularly now that it won a contract this past Wednesday with the Department of Labor to help 300 mature workers in Essex County and Middlesex County find jobs. Nonprofits and government agencies that currently employ people from the program include City Hall and the Emmaus House in Haverhill, the Salem Senior Center, the Salem Mission and North Shore Elder Services.

“There is a lot of opportunity here, state pay for 300 individuals, that are available for nonprofits to hire,” said Joan Cirillo, executive director of Operation A.B.L.E. People in the program typically work 20 hours a week and stay with a nonprofit for a year, although it is not uncommon for the agency to keep them on once the initial contract expires, Cirillo said, Long-term, the goal of the program is to give individuals they need to find jobs on their own, that are not subsidized by the state, she said.

“These people aren’t necessarily unskilled, but they need a chancel to learn new skills” Cirillo said. “They are people at the lowest income level you can imagine (less than $12,000 a year), who are making choices every day between (whether to buy) prescription drugs or groceries.”

But this program isn’t just for those at or beyond retirement age, said Cirillo.

“This isn’t, ‘Oh I’ll get a job because I’m retired and bored,’ “Cirillo said. “These are people who absolutely must have an income.”

For Quigg, her path with Operation A.B.L.E. led her to Ruth’s House Thrift Store in Haverhill, a nonprofit clothing pantry and shop, where she has worked since December. So far she’s learned the ins and outs of the retail environment, but she hopes to tackle computer skills, some thing she hasn’t been able to gain so far on the job. She does, however, have an interview coming up through the program with a nonprofit seeking an office assistant.

“(The program) has given me more self-esteem as far as looking for a job, and financially it lifts you up,” said Quigg.