By Thea Jarvis

This summer an innovative three-month program funded by Southern Bell provided steady, meaningful employment for six young men while allowing Catholic Social Services to expand its emergency home repair services to the elderly.

According the Charles Nutting, Catholic Social Services' Program Assistant for Services to the Elderly, the joint effort was a hallmark in its focus on two major problems found in the metro-Atlanta area: widespread unemployment among young persons and lack of services available to senior citizens, particularly those who own their own home.

For months, Nutting and the staff of one full-time and two part-time workers have attempted to assist the elderly in the upkeep of their homes. Because of cutbacks in federal CETA (Comprehensive Employment and Training Act) funds, CSS's services had been limited to minor repairs, many of which enabled these homeowners to at least hold onto their homes despite an increasingly adverse economic climate.

Southern Bell's fortuitous entry into the CSS picture expanded the scope of their operation. Pat Willis, Southern Bell's Assistant Manager for Consumer Affairs, approached CSS with an offer of funding because of her familiarity with the agency's REHAB program of the early '70s and its "good track record," according to Nutting.

The cooperative summer venture involved CSS hiring and training of six additional staff members plus one supervisor for a nine-week period. Southern Bell provided monies for added salaries and equipment.

"One worker was a student at Grady High School, going into his senior year, who plans an army career," Charles Nutting related. "Others had different job experiences or had been laid off. They needed direction in job-hunting. A young Vietnamese who had been resettled (by CSS) was hired but went through the same procedures as everyone else."

The men were hired from a group of 11 sent to CSS by the Private Industry Council. All had previously applied for employment with the Department of Labor and were between the ages of 18 and 22. They were not required to have had previous construction skills.

After a one-day orientation session at the Catholic Center on West Peachtree Street that include the dos and don'ts of working with the elderly (sensitivity, confidentiality, courtesy) as well as an introduction to CSS goals and values, the new employees proceeded to on-the-job training with supervisory assistance by Mr. Winston Leverett and Mr. Sidney Lynch.

Winston Leverett, CSS's on-the-job coordinator of the home repair program, shared his extensive technical skills and, according to Charles Nutting, was a "fine role model for the young men."

Because of increased staff size, major repairs were tackled. Windows were screened, walls replaced, roofs re-worked.

Their first job involved "rebuilding a deck that was about to fall down," Nutting said. This meant "jacking up the porch, replacing the whole deck floor and repainting" for "an older women living alone in the Capitol Homes area."

This first job -- decidedly a big one -- took the new recruits a week to complete. After that, progress was steady and impressive.

"We contracted for nine homes -- one per week," Nutting explained. "And we completed at least nine -- more like 10 or 11."

Interaction between the young men and the senior citizens they assisted went "very well," he continued. "The (homeowners) were pleased with the work, pleased with the young men. They were very polite and had a good attitude towards the work. This gets back to the sensitivity we stressed with them."

As for the men themselves, he feels, "It's been a good experience for them. Maybe two had done carpentry work before, but they were shown (these skills). We emphasized a team effort. We hoped that at the end of nine weeks they would have learned skills they would be able to apply somewhere -- whether on a permanent job or a weekend project -- in addition to values."

While CSS was doing its part with on-the-job training, Southern Bell carried its funding a step further and provided a once-a-week life skills training program for the duration of the employment schedule. The men were introduced to such topics as résumé writing, assertiveness, conscientiousness, dealing with authority.

"I was very impressed by how well Southern Bell thought this through in terms of planning the program and what they put into it. They went as far as they could to make sure each one (of the men) had a profitable experience," Charles Nutting observed.

Southern Bell's interest in the project was sparked by an earlier meeting with Atlanta city leaders who asked private businesses to help alleviate chronic unemployment among some of Atlanta's young adults.

"They were really sincere in terms of the goals of this program," Nutting noted with pleasure. "It was a good example of how the private sector can contribute something really valuable to the community."

In future months, Services to the Elderly will continue its home repair program, which averages about 100 homes per year, but will return to its reduced schedule, despite the need for expansion.

"Financially, we can't do it on our own. Next month we're really going to feel it, not having this crew with us. Without this manpower we can only do bits and pieces," Charles Nutting said regretfully.

He added that statistics compiled by the Atlanta Regional Commission, which itself helps to fund Services to the Elderly on a year-round basis, indicate that close to 32,000 persons 60 years of age and up are in need of residential repair and/or renovation in the seven county metro Atlanta area alone.

"The need is not being taken care of," Nutting admitted. "We're making a dent."