Although veteran Emmery Perzentka’s military service of six years concluded in 1966 when he was 24, he found a way to continue to serve in his later years through the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) and its grantee, Experience Works.
On average, it takes older workers 60 percent longer to find employment than their younger counterparts, and Perzentka was no exception. His job search lasted two years as he continually heard that he was either overqualified or simply wasn’t on the list of candidates for the positions for which he applied.
|
|
Perzentka works with supervisor Michelle
Guyant, recreational therapist at the Wisconsin
Veterans Home. Guyant and her staff provide
activities for resident veterans and spouses.
|
Perzentka’s experience with SCSEP began in January of 2004 when he turned to Experience Works for help after exhausting all other options. He learned of the program after his wife, who also was looking for employment at the time, brought home a bulletin about the program from a display at the local technical college.
Perzentka credits Experience Works and SCSEP for getting him through a tough time of unemployment. “It had a big impact on me,” Perzentka said. “Taking a chance with Experience Works saved my life.”
Perzentka’s success story began when he was placed in a
position within the activities department at the Wisconsin Veterans Home
in King, WI.
Experience Works’ Field Operations Assistant, Robert Miller,
worked with Perzentka to determine his prior work experience and
helped him uncover his interest to work with and care for elderly people.
The Wisconsin Veterans Home, the state’s largest nursing care
facility for aging or disabled veterans and their spouses, was a natural
fit for Perzentka’s skills and interests.
“When he [Miller] asked if I wanted to go to work at the
Veterans Home, I jumped at the chance,” said Perzentka.
Experience Works has assigned many SCSEP participants to various
departments at the Wisconsin Veterans Home over the past two years.
The facility offers four licensed, nursing-care buildings and many amenities for residents.
After six months in a subsidized position at the Wisconsin Veterans Home, Perzentka became a full-fledged employee, working 20 hours per week and earning almost double his training wage. According to Kathy Leaverton, director of activities at the nursing care facility, Perzentka is an “excellent, caring employee.”
As an employee at the home, Perzentka works in the activities department, providing activities, friendship and conversation to the veterans and spouses in the Alzheimer’s/Dementia Special Care Unit.
Through Experience Works and SCSEP, Perzentka was able to benefit from the community service placement with the Wisconsin Veterans Home, gaining valuable new experiences that helped him secure meaningful employment working with individuals that had experiences similar to his.
“This is a great place to work,” Perzentka said. “My military experience allows me to talk with the veterans living here. It gives you a good feeling to work with them, and if I could do it for free I would. I feel strongly about the military because it is the military that has given us what we’ve got. The veterans are the ones who have given us these freedoms.”
About Experience Works
Established as Green Thumb in 1965, and renamed in 2002, Experience
Works is a national, nonprofit organization that offers training,
employment and community service opportunities for mature workers.
Experience Works operates the largest SCSEP
organization in the nation, serving thousands of seniors, primarily in
rural counties in 38 states and Puerto Rico.
