St. Nicks Alliance Puts New Yorkers on a Path to Economic Stability

Hakim Christie is now an apprentice in the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, DC 9, earning $40 per hour in salary and benefits after graduating from St. Nicks Alliance Building Maintenance training program.

Hakim Christie came to St. Nicks Alliance as an 18-year-old father looking for a career to support his young family. He put his passion for craftsmanship to work in St. Nicks Alliance Building Maintenance training program, where he received hands-on training and earned 10 certifications. He is now an apprentice in the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, DC 9, earning $40 per hour in salary and benefits and on his way to becoming a journeyman in the union. 
 
Christie is one of 2,200 New Yorkers that St. Nicks Alliance serves every year with workforce development services, mostly from North and Central Brooklyn. Many of its job training and placement programs are funded by Jobs to Build On, an initiative of the Consortium for Worker Education and the New York City Council. 
 
“St. Nicks Alliance works with quality employers who offer sustainable wages and growth,” says Larry Rothchild, Senior Managing Director of Workforce Development at St. Nicks Alliance. “We want to put everyone on a path to economic stability. We make sure there are entry to career jobs at the end of the training program, by working with anchor employers who tell us what they need to hire.”

Marie Mercie Resille completed St. Nicks Alliance Financial Services Training course and is now working at Bank of America, just months after arriving from Haiti

St. Nicks Alliance serves life-long residents and new arrivals alike. Marie Mercie Resille came from Haiti just three months ago. After finding part-time work as a cashier, Resille enrolled in St. Nicks Alliance Financial Services Training course. The unique program is a partnership with Bank of America, which teaches some of the financial services classes and hires many of the graduates. 
 
“The entire course is seen as an interview,” says Rothchild. 
 
Halfway through the normally eight-week program, Resille had impressed her instructors and was hired by Bank of America. Her starting pay is $24 per hour. 
 
CWE also supports St. Nicks Alliance’s Job Club, which serves residents who need a job immediately. Many are justice-involved or homeless. In the two-week program, St. Nicks Alliance helps participants get their resume up-to-date, and teaches time management and other hard and soft skills needed to get a job. St. Nicks Alliance provides a computer lab for participants to apply for jobs online and has also developed a closet of job-interview clothing to give workers the best chance at success. Job Club graduates may return later for industry-specific skills training to advance in their careers. 
 
“I give 200 percent and I expect 100 percent from them,” says Beatrice Brown, St. Nicks Alliance’s Deputy Director Employment Services, who oversees the Job Club and other job training programs. 
 
Jesus Huertas found St. Nicks Alliance’s Job Club at just the right time. He was homeless after his mother passed away and he could no longer live in her NYCHA apartment. He completed job readiness classes and St. Nicks Alliance placed him into a mechanic job at Citi Bike, earning $25 per hour. 
 
St. Nicks Alliance provides the community with many other services, ranging from affordable housing, to youth and education programs, to senior services. Each workforce training participant is matched with a transformational coach who helps identify what services they need to succeed in the program. The organization is a trusted source of support in the community and residents can access the services in whatever order makes sense for them. After St. Nicks Alliance placed Huertas into a job, for instance, the organization also helped him complete an application for an affordable apartment. 

St. Nicks Alliance participants like Naheem King-Hicks (center) get hands-on training to prepare for their careers.

St. Nicks Alliance has developed deep partnerships with several New York City unions. 
 
“We want real career growth opportunities for our participants,” says Rothchild. “We want to open up those pathways and ensure every class is exposed to union opportunities.”
 
Participants get to meet with unions and apprentices who work in their training field and learn more about the process of joining the union. St. Nicks Alliance graduates have the opportunity for direct entry into several New York City building trade union apprenticeships. 
 
One program that is popular with many future building trades workers is St. Nicks’ Environmental Remediation technician training. North Brooklyn is home to two Superfund sites and that long history of heavy industry helped inspire St. Nicks Alliance to start the program in 2000. In the seven-week training, participants earn several certifications, including 40-hour OSHA, 8-Hour Confined Space, Asbestos Handler, and 40-hour HAZWOPER. Some graduates go on to become members of Laborers Local 78. 
 
St. Nicks Alliance also offers a diversity of training programs in technology including Data Analytics, which CWE helped the organization pilot, and healthcare. Classes are offered at a variety of times, says Brown, to accommodate the hectic schedules of working New Yorkers. 
 
St. Nicks Alliance programs show its deep commitment to the communities of North and Central Brooklyn. As New York City becomes increasingly unaffordable and good, blue-collar jobs are harder to find, residents know they can come to St. Nicks Alliance for the skills and support they need to stay and thrive in their community.