(CNN) - Anyone who reads the news knows how tough the job market is these days and that's especially true for older workers. In an environment where companies are hiring younger employees and paying them less, older workers are having a harder time looking for a new job, but there's a new program aimed at helping those older workers get their foot back in the door.
"When you've been out of work for a certain amount of time, you're not regarded as a someone who is employable. It was difficult because I was losing confidence. You start to think that it's something about you, that there's something I didn't do right. So this is the way I go to work everyday," says Minh Nguyen.
54-year-old Minh Nguyen drives 35 minutes to and from work each day. It's not her perfect commute, but after being out of work for over 2 years, she'll take it. She emigrated here from Vietnam after the fall of Saigon. "When we came here, our single most important purpose is to have that complete freedom and that I still do. And I value that every single day," says Nguyen. "The difficult time that I'm facing now, or this country is facing, does not faze me."
Minh now works for the non-profit, action for Bridgeport community development, as an office assistant and fee collector. She makes $13 and hour. That is 35% less than she did at her old job. How did she land it? through a job training program, specifically for the long term unemployed. "It affects the mind. It affects a person, a family, a community. And the numbers are staggering," says Joe Carbone, President and CEO, The WorkPlace.
Joe Carbone started the program to help the thousands who have exhausted their unemployment benefits in Connecticut. First, participants have 5 weeks of training. This class is geared toward older workers. "We're all in the same boat. We're all 50 and over. We know we're not going to get these big, high salaries. We'd be happy to be working. I had this interview, all three people came in as a panel, and they were all probably in their 30's," says Ellen Clerc.
"I was dressed in a suit and they were dressed casually. I broke the ice immediately by saying, you've just seen me the most dressed up you'll ever see me," says Mark Charpentier. "You find yourself waking up every day saying, 'how did I go from a vice president at Cannondale to where I really don't know if I can spend $20 at the grocery store. They force you to really hone in on what it is you do best and how to convey that with passion. How do you become the one at the end of the day that stands out."
And in this program, after learning how to stand out, they get a chance to. Promoting a path to a full-time job, the program puts people in 8 weeks of subsidized employment at an organization or company with a job opening. "It's a way to get their foot in the door. It's a way to give people a chance," says Carbone. "It's a try out program at no cost to them so they are more open to hire people," says Nguyen.
And what makes this program really different, no government aid here. It's all private funding.
Three dozen companies, foundations and individuals have donated more than $780,000 to support the training and job subsidies. So far, 59 out of the first 91 participants have gotten jobs. "It works. It works. It gives us back the confidence that we have lost along the way somewhere," says Nguyen.
