PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Public Library received a $2,500 donation from Union Bank on Tuesday to fund the library’s job-seeker services through the end of the year.
Accepting the donation with Theresa Percy, library director, were Susan Wilson, jobs program coordinator, and Cameron McPherson, president of the Port Townsend Public Library Foundation.
Matthew Wech, regional manager of Union Bank, and Kerry Robinson, local Union Bank branch manager, presented the check.
“This is right in line with what is important to the community,” Wech said. “It’s part of how we give back.”
Since starting the jobs services program in 2009, the Port Townsend Library has helped 350 people, Percy said.
‘Transition Yourself’
A main component is “Transition Yourself,” a series of workshops led by Wilson, that shows people how to focus on what they want to do with their lives, where they want to be and how to get there.
Wilson, who has experienced having her job cut, also helps people process the emotions, attitudes and beliefs that accompany suddenly finding yourself unemployed.
“It’s not just pointing people at a computer and saying, ‘Good luck,’” Percy said. “It’s life counseling and career counseling.”
Percy said funding for services like the jobs center is crucial and thanked Union Bank for stepping in to help the library continue it.
With 47 branches in Washington state, Union Bank has donated more than half a million dollars to nonprofits in the state this year, Wech said.
Need to help
Seeing the need to help people in small communities where there are limited job opportunities was the reason Wech, who lives in Sequim, and Robinson, who lives in Port Townsend, supported the library’s application.
“We want to add value to the community,” Wech said. “We want to create more opportunities, more jobs.”
When the North Olympic Library System — which oversees public libraries in Sequim, Port Angeles, Clallam Bay and Forks — sponsored Wilson’s job transition workshop series, it drew a full component of 20 participants with a waiting list of 18, Wilson said.
The job center at the Port Townsend Library offers links to educational opportunities and information on starting and funding a small business as well as resources for job seekers, Percy said.
The Union Bank Foundation accepts funding requests in four categories: education, economic development, the environment and affordable housing.
For more information, visit www.unionbank.com.
The Port Townsend Library’s Transition Yourself workshops are free and offer life counseling and job counseling for people looking to re-enter the work force or just starting out.
For more information, visit www.cityofpt.us/library or email ptplhardtimes@gmail.com.
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Jennifer Jackson is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. To contact her, email jjackson@olypen.com.
