Haunted Past, Promising Future
Bostonian Builds New Life and New Career in Connecticut
Support of Construction Careers Initiative Means an Educated Workforce for Shovel-Ready Projects, and Jobs for Waterbury Residents
CCF grant: $40,000 over two years
Naugatuck Savings Bank Foundation: $20,000 over two years
Haunted by the murders of his son and other family members, Victor Holmes, 46, left his native Boston in 2006.
“It was time for me to leave Boston,” he remembered. “I was going to go insane if I stayed.”
Looking for work in a labor market with a 10½ percent unemployment rate — the highest in the state — with an expired driver’s license and no transportation made a job hard to find.
With the help of his new wife, Ramona, Victor acquired a Connecticut driver’s license and bought a car. He worked at temporary job assignments in shipping, receiving and packing.
“I got to use equipment like a fork lift, but that is not my forte,” he said. “I like to work with my hands,” he added, noting his interests in construction and cooking.
Victor attended two Construction Career Fairs sponsored by the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board where he learned about the Waterbury Construction Career Initiative (WCCI).
Funded by the Northwest Regional Workforce Investment Board, State of Connecticut Office of Workforce Competitiveness, Naugatuck Savings Bank and the Connecticut Community Foundation, the program provides clients with outreach and recruitment, orientation sessions, intake and assessment, referral to apprenticeship programs and job placement services.
