Every month at the Marriott On The Parkway, a group of ex-military service veterans and first responders gather for coffee. But it’s not to reminisce about their old jobs; it’s to find new ones. The “Coffee For Veterans and First Responders” program is a combination networking event and educational seminar rolled into one three-hour span.
The program was created by Anna Harris, director of Human Resources at North American Rescue (NAR). NAR designs, develops and tests life-saving portable products to be used by military, law enforcement and civilian first responders. Their workforce is more than 25% veterans; Harris herself is one. So as you might imagine, they get a lot of calls from veterans looking for work.
“I’ve been with the company 4.5 years now, and what I have found is that we have a lot of veterans contacting us who want a job in the area,” Harris says. “But I don’t have enough jobs to give them. So if we don’t have the job, our goal was to take time and at least point them in the right direction and give them the tools that we have and then help them make some connections in the area.”
“I knew I couldn’t do it alone,” Harris adds, “so I kind of opened it up to the community.”
So, for the first hour and a half of each “coffee” session, Harris and fellow veteran Rick Silva, recruiting manager for Interim Healthcare of the Upstate, give tips on networking, resume building and other job-hunting skills. For the second half, they team the veterans up with community leaders and let them show what they’ve learned.
“We actually bring community leaders in,” Harris says. “They’re either volunteers, work for nonprofits, or work for companies that are hiring. We have a different group almost every month. But they come and network. We’ve had people leave with jobs; we’ve had people leave with tons of connections where they can continue that networking process. We like to be both that learning point and the catalyst to start that networking.”
And if the vets and first responders want to do a little catching up over coffee, well, that’s fine, too.
“That’s probably the most fun part of every month,” Harris says with a laugh. “We have folks who have already gotten jobs, that have gone through the process, but that show up just for the fellowship piece, just to pat each other on the back and love on the people that need to be loved on, and also to reconnect with the people that helped them.”
To register for the April “Coffee With Veterans & First Responders” gathering, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/coffee-with-veterans-and-first-responders-april-2022-tickets-229408094787?aff=erelpanelorg
