Cleveland, April 4, 2008: Seven graduates of El Barrio’s Customer Service Representative Training program walked across the stage to receive certificates of completion at the West Side Ecumenical Ministry Reinberger Auditorium.

The El Barrio Customer Service Representative Training program aims to empower low-income Clevelanders to achieve self-sustaining employment in the customer service field. The program also seeks to meet the needs of local companies for highly-qualified customer service associates.
 

Vanetta Jamison with Abby Vega

Graduates of the program participated in a six-week hands-on training that included general customer service and organizational skills. Representatives from partnering financial institutions, such as AmTrust Bank, helped design the curriculum and provided classroom instruction.

Customer Service Program instructor Abby Vega of El Barrio presented the certificates to the graduates: Theresa L Royster, Karen Sánchez, Latasha Pratt, Alan Wharton, Vanetta Jamison, Latia Hardrick, and Kimber Lee Fryerson.

El Barrio/WSEM Workforce Development Center of Excellence assists more than 800 adults and youth each year achieve self-sustaining jobs by providing job preparation, case management, retention and pre-vocational training.

Pre-vocational training is offered in programs, such as commercial driving, construction and customer service. El Barrio also offers a Job Readiness program and English As A Second Language. All programs are free and open to the public.