Forklift operator thanks God — and Catholic Social Services — for
job
By
Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
There’s isn’t a day that passes by that 37-year-old Omar
Mendez, a forklift operator for Kraft Foods in Northeast Philadelphia,
doesn’t say, “God, thank You for this job — I’m
happy.”
“I’m always thanking God for this well-paying job and benefits
to provide for my family,” said Mendez, a husband and father of
two who belongs to Visitation B.V.M. Parish in the Kensington section
of Philadelphia.
Mendez is also grateful to Candice Koveleskie, the job development coordinator
at the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center, who helped him acquire
his forklift job five months ago.
“I’m very thankful for the Bevilacqua Center …,”
he added. “I told Candice, ‘You’re not just somebody
who helped me find a job — you just made a friend.’”
Although he already had a forklift job at another company, Mendez approached
the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center six months ago, seeking a new
job to provide better for his family, he said.
When Koveleskie showed him the job description at Kraft, Mendez recalled
thinking, “Wow. This is an awesome opportunity. I told her, ‘If
you can get help me get this job, dinner’s on me.’”
Koveleskie helped Mendez with his résumé. “The next
thing you know, I received a phone call from the manager,” he
said. A series of interviews followed, and then, “the next thing
you know, they congratulated me and offered me the job.”
The process took less than three weeks.
Located at 2646 Kensington Ave., the center operates under the auspices
of the Archdiocese’s Catholic Social Services, and receives funding
from the annual Catholic Charities Appeal.
The Job Development and Adult Education Programs of the center seek
to provide underemployed and unemployed individuals in Kensington and
other North Philadelphia neighborhoods with the skills and educational
tools necessary to achieve their employment goals, by offering them
enrichment activities and educational opportunities.
Working in small, interactive classes, participants are mentored as
they enhance their workforce and life skills, helping them to realize
success and make positive contributions within their communities.
To accommodate its diverse, multilingual clients, the center offers
many of its classes both in English and Spanish. It also offers computer
classes and courses in “English as a Second Language” [ESL]
and helps adults and teenagers to obtain their high school equivalency
diplomas.
The center strives to provide its clients with employment tools that
will translate into sustainable workplace success. Its even provides
résumé and cover-letter preparation, interview technique
workshops, and job search assistance.
In addition, the center provides recreational programs to young people
and families in the neighborhood.
Mendez’s wife, Olga, is also receiving job-seeking assistance
at the center; at press time, her résumé had just been
sent to a prospective employer.
The Mendezes’ two children — Omar Jr., 10, and Odalis, 5,
both students at Visitation B.V.M. School — join in the fun
at the center’s gymnaisum.
The Mendez family was present at the grand opening of the center in
2003.
“We heard all the good things that could happen” through
the center, Mendez said. “We like hearing positive things that
can happen in the community, and we try to volunteer as much as possible.
“We try to do what we can … whether it’s Visitation
[parish or school] or the Archdiocese,” he said. “It’s
an awesome feeling that we, as Catholics, can unite and help others.”
Just as he has been helped by the center, Mendez said he realizes the
importance of returning that help, in kind: “I’m not going
to stop giving, just because they helped me find a job. I told Candice,
anything that I can do to help the center, I’m more than happy
to do it.
“The center did so much for me — I’m very appreciative
and thankful for it,” Mendez said. In fact, he routinely visits
the center to see how he might be of help to its other members, and
to check out classes he can take to better himself.
All in all, Mendez is content with the outcome of the outreach he has
received from the Cardinal Bevilacqua center: “I’m happy
with my job. Everything is fantastic. My coworkers are a bunch of good
people. They’re real nice.
“That’s the main thing,” he said. “Be happy
with your job; be happy with your coworkers.”
As he provides for his family, Mendez counts on his Catholic faith and
his prayer life, he said.
He believes that getting hired at his present job “had a lot to
do with faith — always striving, and never giving up.”
Despite a recent, two-month, seasonal layoff at the job — Mendez
has since resumed working — his faith remained strong, he said.
And when he returned to work, his manager shook his hand, welcomed him
back, and assured him he was performing his job well, he said. “That
makes me feel good. I know I’m appreciated.”
Mendez said one of his main goals in life has been “staying constant
with the Church [and] having a lot of faith really helped me.”
Mendez also realizes that his skills are God-given: “I thank God
for giving me the knowledge to understand how to [operate a forklift.]”
At his previous job, he trained others to operate the machine —
an experience in which he could watch his protégés put
his instructions into practice and, in effect, provide a safer work
environment.
Now, as he learns to operate a different type of forklift at his current
job, he says of his new employers, “They bless me, because they’re
teaching me. …
“Hopefully, in the near future,” he said, “I will
become a trainer.”
For more information, contact the Cardinal Bevilacqua Community Center
at (215) 426-9422.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215) 587-2468
or cchicoin@adphila.org.