By Brett Hetherington*

Leadership of Westbrook Park United Methodist Church (Central Valley District) in Canton continues to adapt its ministries to meet the needs of the people in the communities they serve. One such ministry is the Elevate Life Network, a workforce development program modeled after one its previous pastor experienced in Denver, Colorado several years ago.

“When we saw what the program could be we said, ‘This is it, this is the future, this is what we were meant to do. This is really the impetus of what our vision of being Christ for Canton is really about, and this is how we’re going to do it,’” said Eric Spaulding COO/CDO of Elevate Life Network.

The mission of Elevate Life Network is to abolish economic, relational and spiritual poverty. The program teaches life skills as well as job skills to help those who are going through the program – who are referred to as leaders – break free from what has inhibited them in the past.

“They don’t just need jobs they need to get out of these poverty cycles they need to break these structures. But without building that new structure to support them, it cannot succeed,” shared Spaulding.

Spaulding and his wife Diana form a leadership team – with Diana serving as the executive director – which oversees the entire process from beginning to graduation.

“The first six weeks are the roughest, where we focus on personal development. We teach soft skills such as conflict resolution, showing up on time and emotional intelligence,” said Diana, who shared that the current class has nine leaders who are preparing to graduate.

Those first six weeks include a round of mock interviews with professionals from the community to help prepare leaders for what will be awaiting them at the end of their program. “Some aren’t the most polished and it gives them a chance to prepare for how they’re going to answer the questions that come off the wall in a professional manner, and that gives them the chance to work those kinks out,” she said.

From 9:15 a.m. until noon Monday through Thursday leaders spend time in class, learning life skills and studying for their chosen career tracks. Elevate Life Network has a partnership with Penn Foster that bases the available career tracks upon what is in demand in Stark County. Currently there are 12 options.

“We want leaders to be starting at a minimum wage for a single person of $17 an hour or more. That allows them to be at the self-sufficient line in Stark County. It is a very affordable area. For people with children, you need to be looking at more than that,” said Diana. The current class of leaders includes those who are studying for certificates in plumbing, electrical, HVAC and medical billing coding, all trades that are in high demand in Stark County.

“We don’t want them to just get a job and be stuck,” Diana said. “We want it to be a career with growth potential in that career.”

Diana also elaborated that the trades are more forgiving of a person’s past when it comes to hiring.

“The good thing about the trades is if people have anything in their background, they’re more forgiving about those kinds of things too. People who come in and have things in their background, you know it’s not their shining moment of their past, but they carry that shame with them and we talk about that during the first six weeks. We tell them the things that you learn from your mistakes you can use that as a positive. The things that most people going through the program have gone through, I would be in the corner in the fetal position. The fact that you keep putting one foot in front of the other I would be glad to have you as an employee,” she said.

Deshaun, one of the current leaders who will graduate with his certificate in HVAC, shared that he did not want to just get stuck in a job. “I don’t just want to go to any HVAC company. I want to go where they really welcome me and they actually appreciate me. I want to be somewhere where in the next five to 10 years I have some history behind me. I want to be stable. I don’t want to jump into it like a job and down the line be looking for somewhere else to work. It’s up to me to want to be there, not just for them to want me to be there,” he said.

In addition to the weekly classwork, Elevate Life Network includes a Wednesday Night Family Dinner that is mandatory for all leaders. This is a time for all involved in the program to enjoy a home-cooked meal, some team-building games, hear teaching on a weekly topic from leaders and professionals in the community, and take part in small group discussion time. Volunteers are important throughout the whole program, but they are especially important at the Wednesday Night Family Dinner.

“The volunteer small group leader is a point of contact person, when you need that person. I’m just here to be your person, your resource, an ear, a shoulder, whatever you need me to be. That’s really what an ally is, you’re just there to be their person. Not a counselor, not necessarily a friend, just a confidante,” shared Eric.

DeShaun shared that Wednesday Night Family Dinners mean a lot to him. “It can be overwhelming, but when you are around other people learning it’s cool learning stuff – you know you learn something different every day. You get to see how everybody sees things differently, we go back into our groups and talk. It’s cool. I like it. In the long run it’s going to help me. I show up because down the line it’s going to help me,” he said.

One month before graduation leaders start the process of looking for a job. The goal is to have a job before graduating from the program.

Leaders experience more than just life training and job coaching at Elevate Life Network. They have people who are showing up in their lives unconditionally, something that many of them do not have outside the program. The program builds a community, with Eric and Diana, two career coaches and allies – there are a host of people who are committed to showing up in the lives of the leaders, week in and week out.

“When they realize that someone’s going to show up for them, it makes a world of difference,” shared Diana.

“If you want to build them up you have to build the community,” added Eric.

Tyquan – a leader who will graduate with his certificate in plumbing – shared that the program has given him a solid grounding for his future. “It was like a step up to a next level of career in my life, for what I wanted to do that was interesting to me. It really helped me to see a lot of open doors out there,” he said.

The future is something that has become a positive and more concrete thing for many of the leaders in the program. And keeping them on track is a process for leadership as well. But Eric, Diana and the team they have assembled are up to the task.

“They don’t let you quit,” shared Ricky, a leader who will graduate with his certificate in HVAC. “The only challenge I have is I can’t tell them no. They tell me, ‘You can do it.’ And I’m like ‘Maybe I can do it.’ I’m happy because I never completed something. Never. But when I get done with this, I’ll have something to show for it,” he said.

To learn more about Elevate Life Network visit https://elevatelifenetwork.com.

The Conference Communications team would like to share other stories that highlight ways that each of us is answering the call to reach out to our communities in creative ways. Please e-mail your ministry story to EOC Executive Director of Communications Rick Wolcott at wolcott@eocumc.com.

*Brett Hetherington is the Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.