Halo Network Organization Programs
Tailored around corporate and locally owned specialty coffee shops and standard industry positions that are in demand in our area, the Youth Barista Training program takes students through the basics of an espresso bar and cafe facility.
Daily attendance is critical to the successful completion of this program. The rapid progression and testing as well as the materials and new equipment the students will be exposed to require students to perform classroom and cafe duties as if they were a job.
Students will also receive training in positive work behaviors or “soft skills”, the skills necessary to get, keep and progress in a job.
A Halo Network Foundation Certificate of Completion will be awarded upon successful completion and examination of all program contents.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
I was frustrated not having any job skills and no direction in my life,” says Zack. “I didn’t want to admit I was at that point.” Zack was unemployed, and scared. Thanks to a spending problem she calls “huge,” she had no savings. She stomped the pavement daily to hand out her resume. He could not even get hired at a fast food chain, he knew that if he does make changes in his life he would be couch surfing for the next two or three years. He had an opportunity to come to Halo Network Foundation. “I started to think about it, I prayed, and I realized that maybe it could be a good thing,” he says. Zack jumped right into the program and began to get his G.E.D. With his polite and cheerful demeanor, he stood out as an obvious choice to begin training at the Café. Zack is now employed and working in the warehouse of a top restaurant design and supply company. His appreciates the financial management classes on budgeting so he won’t wind up jobless and penniless again. “I’m extremely grateful that there is such a program available for me,” he says, relieved. “I don’t feel hopeless anymore.”
Especially when times are tough, it is tempting to throw all of our financial resources into service delivery and leave capacity building for when the air clears. But a prudent investment in the capacity of nonprofits ensures that scarce resources are put to the best use by making our organizations more efficient and more effective. Recent evaluation studies capacity programs confirm that capacity building results in “significantly higher levels of growth.” A retrospective study of the same program showed that 90 percent of participating organizations improved the level or quality of services and 88 percent improved the outcomes for the participants in their programs. Capacity building is a need as our organization grows.