Low-income men and women ages 55 and over continue to be productive workers and supplement their incomes through Catholic Social Services' Senior Community Service Employment Program. The program is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor and sponsored by the National Council on the Aging.

Senior participants receive a subsidized income while they are developing skills needed to obtain higher paying non-subsidized employment. The salary consists of minimum hourly wage for 20 hours per week of on-the-job training in such fields as providing social services to other seniors, educational services (particularly literacy tutoring), clerical support, cooking and dietary duties, light building maintenance, child care, community beautification and other diverse job placements. Participants must be residents of Philadelphia, but may work in the city and surrounding region.

More than 100 seniors participate in the program which is offered at 60 training sites throughout Philadelphia. Last year 36 participating seniors left the program after securing better paying, non-subsidized jobs. This underscores the overall goal of the program: to help senior adults become self-sufficient through training, job development and eventual placements in non-subsidized employment.

The National Council on the Aging is celebrating its 40th year of the Senior Community Service Employment Program, administered locally since 2003 by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's Catholic Social Services. Participating agencies and businesses continue to discover that hiring mature, reliable and well-trained older adults is good for business, the community and seniors themselves.

For more information on the Senior Employment Program, contact Administrator Kevin Barr at 215-854-7030.

Contact
Matthew Gambino
Associate Director
215-587-3747