Job corps offers Wai'anae hope

By Will Hoover
Advertiser Leeward O'ahu Writer

Little did Phyllis Waterhouse realize when she invited Pat Hall to speak to her organization that the request would lead to the first Career Fair at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center.

Helen Adair, a volunteer office skills teacher with the Wai'anae Coast Christian Women's Job Corps, provides tips on filling out job applications at the corps' first career fair. The forum last week drew about two dozen people. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

The Wai'anae Coast is one of the most economically depressed areas in the state, and those who came to learn appreciated the effort despite the small beginning.

A little more than a year ago, 36-year-old Darolyn Cannon was desperate. Homeless and living in a car with her four children, she had lost all hope until she heard about Waterhouse's Wai'anae Coast Christian Women's Job Corps. That started the process of positive change in her life, she said. She was elated about the career fair.

"This is a godsend," said Cannon, who is a student and part-time staff worker for the corps. "We're just ending our certified nursing training, and then this happens. What could be more perfect?"

Waterhouse is the driving force behind the year-old, free Christian Women's Job Corps based at Nanakuli Baptist Church. The program is designed to help women who want to improve their self-image and job skills, but it also gives women support, hope and optimism, said Helen Adair, a volunteer office skills teacher with the corps, who coordinated the fair with Hall.

When Waterhouse invited Hall to come speak to her group, Hall suggested bringing the group's members to the center's new dining pavilion for a morning of practical tips on applying for a job. Thus the Career Fair was hatched.

The tone of the fair was supportive but frank, with an emphasis on practical advice that has the potential to be life-changing for some of the women who attended.

That's where Hall came in.

Phyllis Waterhouse is the driving force behind the year-old, free Christian Women's Job Corps based at Nanakuli Baptist Church. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"When I went for my interview, there were three chairs and a telephone on the floor," Hall said.

Today she is human resources director for the center — the largest employer on the Wai'anae Coast with a staff of 350 employees.

In her years in human resources, she has been through thousands of applications and seen every mistake, she said. She walked the participants through the basics of filling out application forms.

Contrary to common opinion, applications are not filled out to get a job, Hall told the eight women who filled out the forms. The purpose of the application is to get a job interview.

Few applicants make it that far because the forms handed in are messy, unreadable and grammatically incorrect, with misspelled words, passages obliterated with large scribbles and with entire questions left blank, Hall said. No supervisor wants to waste his or her time interviewing someone who doesn't care enough to hand in a neat application, she said.

"You market yourself with your application," she said. "You sell yourself with the interview. It is very important to do it right."

Hall also had news for the women — the center had some job openings and she wanted to keep their applications.

"We have openings for medical receptionists and assistants," said Milo Huemphner, director of the center's clinic operations. "And our ER has openings for licensed practical nurses."

But the good feelings didn't end there.

Cannon got a hug from Gilberta Kenessey, 44, who was unable to read well until Cannon became her literacy tutor.

"Things are getting better," said a smiling Kenessey, who was pleased to report that she recently landed a job cleaning homes.

Reach Will Hoover at 525-8038 or whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.