Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show...(the opening lines of David Copperfield as written by Charles Dickens;inspired by MTM). Or at least this ACCOUNT will, perhaps, have a reflection on whether I'm going to be the hero in my own life.
...Can it be that it was all so simple then
or has time rewritten every line?
If we had the chance to do it all again
tell me would we? Could we?~~~The Way We Were; Barbra Streisand
The most significant experience for me this week was recognizing an anniversary of sorts. I had to take the time to recognize it, and additionally reference it in a couple of social-networking sights, for two reasons. Number one, I had to recognize it from a personal accomplishment standpoint. Frankly, it was a huge undertaking; on a scale heretofore, never attempted by myself. Number two, I had to recognize it for the merits of what this pilot program; avenue if you will, represented. This endeavor was meant to have some staying-power, particularly for the Lower West Side community it was being tailored for.
The anniversary date was the 13th of May, 2010. I think the strongest emotion that runs through me---is sadness. Even with all the difficulty that presented itself in making all of this a reality, the saddest aspect is that this, while being targeted as a pilot project, would probably end up being---a flash in the pan. While the administrators of the Portal Program, and The Belle Center, were at least counting on this running annually, or with some wishful-thinking running semi-annually, it appears it will just run---the one-time.
And that hurts, to be honest with you. Definitely, such a project is needed, particularly for the underprivileged and disadvantaged segments of our communities. Because of restrictions brought about by finances and transportation, individuals in these communities may simply not be aware of all that is available in trade and vocational training---to open employment doors. And, I AM SPEAKING FROM FIRST-HAND EXPERIENCE ON THIS. I did not know myself, what different trade and vocational avenues were available, or the entry-level-training therein, until I personally got intensely involved with this project. After initiating efforts to network organized -labor operatives, and being given tours of these entry-level training, and classroom facilities, did I finally become aware of the wealth and richness of the training facilities, and the dedicated administrators whom added personality to them. Truly, that was the priceless experience in all of this. The personalities that are encountered in all this, cannot be measured. And it crosses gender. Charade Kittle, and Angela Blue were fascinating to work with. And by the same token, so was Gary Bernardo, Jim Smolinski, Richard Nader, Mike Wach, Jeffery Brylski, Tom Burke, Paul Brown, and Paul Leone. Then in the private sectors, there were very warm receptions provided for me by Pat Reagan of Rural/Metro EMT Svcs, and Vito Casoni from CDC Industries. I have to add that the personality of Sargent Ronald Hall of the United States Marine Corps, put some fascinating flavoring to the afternoon portion of the event. I should also add that Sargent Ronald Hall was literally the very first commitment I received as a vendor willing to participate!!
Then, as Fate would have it, one workday in early October of 2010, after all of this had materialized, and been forged, and mobilized, I come into The Belle Center,and am informed that due to AmeriCorps Buffalo grant monies being drastically reduced, I was being given an exit interview, and advised that my term at The Belle Center was now concluded. It was not that the suffering and misery of the underprivileged and disadvantaged had concluded. But my effort to impact that, had.
To recognize that small effort to give back; that effort to make a difference, I posted the BELOW, on a couple of Social-Networking sites:
THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
Thursday 13 May 2010. Leveraging his union affiliation with the I B T; Local 375, Lou Marconi is able to develop an extensive network of Organized labor, and their associated entry-level training programs to effect the first-ever VOCATIONAL TRADE FAIR for the Portal Program at The Belle Center, 104 Maryland St Buffalo NY 14201. Such a venture on this scale, had never been undertaken in the center's thirty-four year history. Executives and administrators, as well as the vendors and the public that participated, considered the VOCATIONAL TRADE FAIR a tremendous success.
The idea of ENTRY-LEVEL-TRAINING-PROGRAMS as an out-reach theme to the underprivileged, and disadvantaged, to get young adults work-world-ready was additionally embraced by other institutions and organizations in both the private and public sectors. Along with Organized Labor, the complement of vendors was punctuated with many local non-profits, some trade-oriented junior colleges, a couple of specialty manufacturing firms, and the US Army, US Coast Guard, the US Navy, and THE USMC, that set up "shop" on the gymnasium floor of The Belle Center.
In Comments---I added the below, because I felt it was important to recognize some operatives at The Belle Center that allowed me carte-blanche to make it happen:
I am grateful for the platform Mike Szymanski,Jack Norton, and Nestor Hernandez allowed me to launch from. And I am grateful for such Labor operatives as Gary Bernardo and Angela Blue whose advice and visibility facilitated the comfort-zone for so many others to collaborate on this pilot project.
I even received some feedback from one of the social-networking sites and truly appreciate the vote of confidence and the support:
This was a major undertaking and you had no diagram from past events to follow. You should be very proud of this accomplishment and for the many lives that have and will benefit in the future. We certainly could have used this type of exposure to various training/employment opportunities in our youth!
Maybe I can get in touch with Gary Bernardo and Jim Smolinski of The I. U. O. E. in Lakeview, NY~~~and turn on my after-burners for their CONSTRUCTION CAREER DAYS extravaganza---in September!!
With bin Laden killed, the Arab Spring, the chaos in Syria, the stalemate in Libya, trying to keep our Navy SEALS a secret, the nuclear power plant in Fukashima still in trouble, the storm devastation at home, and The Mississippi Rising(once it 'burned'), I am still awaiting my ENDEAVOR to launch. Watch---it will launch on a day I am Downtown; maddening.
--{-=@
Hickok
The Promise
A of C
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