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2 agencies' efforts to provide jobsMay 21, 2010 (The Buffalo News - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Tough economic times have prompted two local agencies to form an alliance to provide jobs for a specific segment of the community in a way that would not have been possible decades ago. Under the partnership announced Thursday, the Olmsted Center for Sight will get job opportunities for its clients, while Central Referral Services gets a supply of workers. "Like many not-for-profits, we were looking for ways to partner to be more effective and efficient for what we do," said Ron Maier, executive director of the Olmsted Center for Sight, which provides job training and employment for the blind and visually impaired. Central Referral Services gives free, confidential referrals to Western New York health and human service providers through its 211 program. The 211 Call Center provides information and referrals via telephone and Internet. It answers tens of thousands of calls a year, referring clients to more than 3,000 organizations and 15,000 services. Calls range from job and home losses to the need for day care services, counseling programs and assistance following disasters. Clients get help identifying problems, prioritizing them and finding resources to deal with them. "The community calls on us. We identify information and put databases together. This way, first responders are freed from doing that," said Doug Frank, executive director of Central Referral Services. "We have expertise on how to create databases -- really large databases. We tell clients what they qualify for, who they need to talk to, what documentation they need so they go to where they need to go the first time." Olmsted Centers clients will be trained and hired to answer phones in the call center, now located in the Erie County Public Safety Campus in downtown Buffalo. Maier pointed out the benefits of the merger. For one, Central Referral Services has a "knowledge base" or database in terms of 211. "Services of 211 are secure and hopefully will expand," he said. "And this provides a venue" for the hiring of the blind and visually impaired, Maier added. "We couldn't have done this 50 years ago, but with technology and computers, we can." One advantage for CRS is access to Olmsted's technology, in addition to labor, Franks said. "Accounting services, [information technology], personnel -- in the past, we had to pay extra for those things, and they have that, so we can expand our services," he said. "And we're employing people that are not being employed other places." The need to find different ways to provide service brought the two not-for-profit agencies together. "State funding started drying up quickly," Frank said. "It literally dried up overnight. We started looking around [for money sources]. The more we talked [with Olmsted Center], the more it made sense." With limited financial resources in the community, they had to be more creative, Maier said. e-mail:[email protected] To see more of The Buffalo News, N.Y., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.buffalonews.com. Copyright (c) 2010, The Buffalo News, N.Y. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |