News and event information for Williams Lake, BC - as it happens.

By LeRae Haynes

The community is invited on Friday August 12 to celebrate the graduation of the ‘Potato House Crew’ Job Options program. The Chuck Wagon Grill will be on site for lunch, and residents will have the opportunity to tour the Heritage Potato House site and meet the five Job Opportunity participants who are looking for work.

(Photo: Rebecca Setah, Charlotte James, Tania Norman, Christal Mayo and Mike Keller, who is not pictured, completed a four-week work experience program at the Potato House.)

The event is a partnership between the Potato House Sustainable Community Society and Williams Lake Employment Services, celebrating the successful completion of a four-week work experience program for Rebecca Setah, Charlotte James, Tania Norman, Christal Mayo and Mike Keller.

Before starting the four-week work program at the Potato House, the crew from Williams Lake Employment Services spent two weeks learning things like how to conduct a job search and a job interview and how to create a resume and a cover letter.

Once they arrived at the Potato House they rolled up their sleeves and honed some different skills. “We pulled grass for days, removed seven or eight layers of old wood from under the rabbit hutches, planted potatoes, remodeled and painted bees hives and dismantled an old chicken house,” they said. “We discovered and dug out the basement door, did composting from the Gecko Tree and weeded the Community Garden.”

They said that a few people who saw the progress they made asked if they were available to hire as a crew. “We’re open to anything, individually and as a group,” said Christal Mayo. “If you can think of it, we can do it.”

“We’re flexible and eager to try new experiences,” Tania Norman stated. “This was such a positive project—some of our kids would come here on our days off and help with the work.”

The five participants will have resumes and business cards at the event on Friday, to hand out to prospective employers. “This is a chance for them to see what we’re capable of in four weeks, and to talk to everyone we’ve worked with on this project,” Charlotte James explained.

They said that this job gave them the opportunity to learn skills that include communication and cooperation, and added that they’re looking forward to new employment opportunities in the community.  

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