Aisha K. Staggers Photo
NHPS pitches potential hires.
Jobs from firefighter to police officer to census taker were on display Saturday for some of New Haven’s newest community members as well as others seeking work.
The occasion was a job fair held at Wilbur Cross High School and organized by the Latino Council and the New Haven Public Schools.
“There’s an influx of displaced families coming in from Puerto Rico who’ve come here after the hurricanes and the communities have open up to them, now they need other forms of support,” said Elmer Rivera Bello of the Latino Council.
Organizers Daniel Diaz and Elmer Rivera Bello outside the job fair at Cross.
“You see this crowd?” Rivera Bello said, gesturing around him. Some people were already lined up at 8:30 a.m., an hour before doors opened, said Diaz, who is the school system’s parent outreach coordinator.
In the last two months alone, the public schools have absorbed 40 new students from families fleeing the most recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico.
Fair Haven Community Health Care, one of the 14 employers with tables at the fair, ran out of swag and informational literature thanks to the unexpectedly large gathering.
More women becoming police officers in New Haven than ever before, with the last class being among those with the most women graduating, Officer Yelena Borisova (at center in the photo) said at the NHPD recruiting table. When asked why she became an officer, she smiled warmly and said, “Because a police officer in [her native] Belarus, saved my life once.” The police department plans to hire dozens of new officers in the coming year.
In addition to the city’s burgeoning Latino population, the aging — and retirements — of Baby Boomers have added to the high demand for workers among many of the employers present Saturday.
Capt. Rafael Zayas of the fire department said the NHFD may need as many as 150 new employees in coming years. He told attendees about how the the city’s Fresh Start program offers free pardons sessions, which teach people about the Connecticut pardon system and how to expunge an old record so they can find and keep employment. These sessions are free and available even if you are not applying to be a firefighter. And the Workforce Alliance offers free EMT training.
Recruiters Kanicka Ingram-Mann and Cary Neri of the New Haven Public Schools spoke about the need for teachers, especially in STEM fields.
Other employers present included the U.S. Census, Yale New Haven Health, and Neighbor Works.
One of the big takeaways from this event, from speaking with recruiters like Officer Borisova . Ingram-Mann, is how much they love their jobs
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal stopped by and praised the effort to open doors for newcomers to the area, and noted the importance of this year’s census. “We owe our fellow Americans better,” Blumenthal said. “They are our family. We want to aid their families; we should make sure they are counted so they can be presented.”
Blumenthal with event organizers.