Seniors Celebrate Success In Workplace, Community

For Immediate Release May 15, 2003
Contact: Sue Carroll 301-578-8868

Pittsburgh—Mary Sirmons, a 70-year-old Pittsburgh resident and avid bridge player, walked out of a beauty salon one day and changed her life. As she left the salon, she noticed the YMCA logo on the building next door, and it reminded her of the senior programs she had heard about at church. She went inside and asked for information.

Before long, in May 2001, Sirmons had enrolled in the Senior AIDES program and was placed as a receptionist at Community Services Inc. Since then, Sirmons, who has practiced as an LPN and worked as an assistant buyer at Kaufman’s department store, has been promoted to a Life Skills Instructor and is now earning $15 an hour.

Sirmons, along with three other Senior AIDES participants from Pittsburgh—Carolyn Boyd, Charlene Owens and Diana Robinson—are being honored this week at the Senior AIDES Program Annual Conference here at the Omni William Penn.

Senior Service America Inc. is a non-profit organization that awards grants under a Department of Labor program to help place seniors in community service organizations, where they gain skills and confidence to enter, or re-enter, the workplace. These low-income seniors are part of the job market of the future, according to Danielle Erringer, corporate staffing manager at UPMC Health Systems—a Senior AIDES employer.

The job market of the future will include the “recruiting and retaining of an older workforce,” Erringer said. “The consensus here at UPMC is that older workers are truly reliable, dependable, trainable, service-minded and maintain a strong work ethic.”

Erringer said that in a hospital setting, seniors are incredibly skilled with patient care, having more patience and understanding and the ability to relate to patients and their families. “Many of our older workers become nurturing figures,” Erringer said. “When patients are in the waiting room, and have been sitting for a long time, our older workers can step in and talk to them, talk to the family.”

Doris Carson Williams, executive director of the African American Chamber of Commerce in Pittsburgh, said she supports the Senior AIDES program for “the values that our more seasoned men and women have to share with our younger workers.” She said older Americans work in an advisory role in their mentor program for businesses, and bring a strong work ethic to their positions.

Seniors in 27 states participating in the Senior AIDES program across the country are making a difference in their communities by re-training and returning to the workforce, bringing with them the desire to make a real difference in the lives of those around them.

“We’re very proud of Carolyn Boyd, Charlene Owens, Diana Robinson and Mary Sirmons, and all of the seniors who are making a difference in their communities,” said Anthony Sarmiento, executive director of Senior Service America. “Our programs give them a leg up into the workplace, then it’s their skills and determination that make them so successful.”

The conference continues Friday with a special program on the silver and gold ribbon campaign that Senior Service America has launched in communities across the country to honor older workers.

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) of Senior Service America is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. SCSEP is an equal opportunity program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.