The GlasserPassports Program continued this past month with AARP as their Sarasota Projects Director, Trina Steinmaker, came to present information about their Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP). AARP is the largest nonprofit in the US and advocates for people of ages 50 and above, by fighting for healthcare, food security, and financial assistance. With such a wide-reaching mission, this GlasserPassports was a wonderful opportunity to explain some of the tangible ways that AARP’s SCSEP office here at the Campus of Caring helps clients to achieve self-sustainability and confidence.
The SCSEP program helps to meet all three of AARP’s areas of focus by matching their participants with nonprofits that can offer training. These nonprofits partner with AARP to become worksites after an initial process of inspection. Representatives from AARP work closely with the prospective worksite to ensure that it is safe for SCSEP participants. With the safety check complete, the new worksite is then available to be paired with participants as they make their way through the program to receive job experience.
The program has rules to ensure that these training assignments are not used to replace current workers or replace roles in the organization that could be filled. Not only does this protect employees at these worksites but also ensures that the training roles can be filled by SCSEP participants as they progress through training and switch out with other participants.
The program creates a mutually beneficial system: the worksite gets assistance with practical tasks and AARP provides payment to the participant. If you're interested in helping your organization become a SCSEP host site or if you would like to become a participant you can find out more about the program here. There you can join a program that provides people not only with financial support and training, but also a sense of purpose and confidence in themselves.
We are lucky to have Projects Director Trina Steinmaker, here on the campus to guide this mission. Joining in August 2022, Trina has already made herself an invaluable part of AARP and the campus. In her own office she provides cool-headed and compassionate leadership from almost 12 years of experience with the American Red Cross. Trina doesn’t stop there as she makes full use of the collaboration opportunities available on campus. She’s a regular at our connection program events, working with agencies on and off campus for the benefit of her team and the clients they serve.
Real estate is one of the greatest costs in a business budget. Our partnership with The Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center allows more money to go towards our mission. And what better place to house our office than on a campus with nineteen other outreach agencies.
Collaboration is key to the success of our work. The Campus of Caring is a unique space where we can easily join forces with other agencies to make the best use of our resources and maximize our community impact. The affordable rent allows us to allocate more funds to our mission of transforming the lives of students and their families.
As a small organization with a staff of two, employee safety was a big consideration when we were looking for office space. We did not want our employees to be in a place where they were alone. Being on the GSHSC campus has been great because there is a whole community of like-minded professionals.
