Seniors who return to work create added value, learn new skills

When Deborah Myles decided she had had enough of retirement, a program in Detroit that helps seniors find work gave her a path back to a productive life with lots of contacts and a feeling of being needed.

After leaving a part-time career that included working as a domestic helper, teaching special needs students, and working as a sound engineer for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Myles stayed home for several years and watched her health continue to deteriorate.

“I’ve been doing much better since I came into the workforce here,” says Myles, 69, who, with braided locks, painted nails and a cheerful laugh, now serves drinks and folds laundry at The Commons Coffee Bar & Coin Laundry, a laundromat and cafe on Detroit’s east side.

MACC Development, operator of The Commons, recently signed on as a host site for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), administered by the Detroit Area Agency on Aging. The program funds and facilitates job training for older adults who need new work experience to re-enter the workforce.

“We’re not sending people to fill gaps,” says Jonita Edwards, chief administrative officer of the Detroit Area Agency on Aging. Participants in the program, who are 55 years old or older, are placed in entry-level positions where they learn real skills that prepare them for the job.

In addition to helping older residents, the program also provides skilled workers to nonprofits, tapping into a valuable and often overlooked resource, Edwards says.

Seniors like Myles may come into the program with a lifetime of professional skills that need polishing, or they may have no work experience at all; some are retirees from Fortune 500 companies. Either way, Edwards says, “We don’t have to write them off.”

Finding the right fit

When Myles retired a few years ago, she had no intention of returning to work.

“I didn’t want to work for anyone anymore, no matter what you said,” she recalls, sitting on a chair in a cafe, taking a break from folding a stack of white towels in the laundry.

The former majorette and basketball player was voted most popular player in high school, but in retirement she was forgotten and became someone she didn’t want to be, Myles says.

On the advice of a friend, she contacted the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, where she learned she could learn the skills required by modern employers and meet employers willing to hire her.

Her first job didn’t go as well as she’d hoped, and she almost dropped out of the program. But now, surrounded by the quiet murmur of a coffee shop and the smell of laundry detergent at The Commons, “I feel like I’m in a comfort zone,” she says.

In its ten years of operation, the Senior Community Service Employment Program has helped numerous income-limited seniors like Myles reintegrate retirees back into the workforce.

The program matches seniors with jobs that match their interests and abilities and provides the training they need in computer skills, interview techniques, personal money management and other skills they need to succeed in their careers.

Nonprofit and government agencies agree to closely monitor the seniors’ work experience. The program pays its employees, but because they are participating in a training program and are not technically employed, their income is tax-deductible and they do not lose their Social Security and other financial benefits.

Forging a new beginning

No matter what background they come from, people of Myles’ generation often struggle to find a new job or even get one at all. But if a participant is willing to learn and work, SCSEP can find a place to succeed, Edwards says.

Previously, participants in the program were tied to one job for the entire four-year period. Three years ago, the DAAA revamped the program to place seniors in a different location each year, allowing them to learn new skills and enter environments that might prove conducive to long-term employment—the ultimate goal of the program.

Some graduates finish their four-year program without a job. Others drop out early because they are poached by an employer who recognizes their value as an employee, Edwards says.

The program has space for 48 participants. Participation numbers rarely stay constant, “a good problem” because it means the seniors have found a job, says Rashonda Dawson, SCSEP coordinator.

The new rotation has worked well, piquing the interest of seniors and giving them a chance to showcase new skills. Supervisors at host venues are fighting over participants, who they see as valuable additions to their staff, Dawson says.

The program celebrates itself with an annual information exchange meeting that culminates with a senior basketball tournament and an end-of-year event honoring those who have found employment during the year.

Some program participants have subsequently worked for employers in professional positions, such as senior administrative assistants in executive suites and managers of senior living facilities.

Some participants in the program have difficulty adjusting to a new working environment. Edwards says they may have difficulty taking direction from younger authority figures or encounter colleagues who do not understand and respect generational differences.

But investing in an older employee pays off, she says. Older people who are ready to return to work can be excellent employees – “you just have to spend time with them and slow down with them.”

Creating added value

“Amidst The Commons’ predominantly younger workforce, Myles brings new energy along with a lifetime of experience,” said Tiffany Banks, Associate Director of MACC Development.

MACC opened the laundromat and café after asking local residents, mostly seniors, what they wanted most for the neighborhood the agency serves.

Now when customers come in, they see a familiar face in Myles, who serves them words of wisdom in addition to the coffee drinks she is still learning how to make.

“She’s really brilliant,” says Banks. The senior executive may need a little extra help with tasks like filling out a timesheet, but “she’s a valuable contributor.”

Myles finds her young colleagues inspiring, even if they tease her and call her “the old lady,” she says.

She doesn’t know if she’ll ever feel ready to return to the 9-to-5 routine of a full-time job. But she’s happy to be part of that world again. When she gets to work at 11 a.m., “they can’t get me out of here,” she says.

Society is quick to label seniors, pigeonhole them and exclude them from work without even knowing them. The Senior Employment Program not only helps older adults feel valued, but also earn an income that provides stability for them and, in turn, their community, Banks says.

For nonprofits, participating as a host is a “no-brainer,” she says. Everyone wins, as long as the host has an open mind, a willingness to teach, “and the ability to help people grow.”

Resilient Neighborhoods is a reporting and engagement series that explores how Detroit residents and community development organizations are working together to strengthen local neighborhoods. It is made possible with funding from The Kresge Foundation.