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Organization helps veterans find work after service

Posted at 10:28 PM, Mar 06, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-06 22:28:27-05

 ATLANTA, GA (WGCL) — According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics there are currently 370,000 unemployed veterans across the county, but one local organization is working to change that.

“I didn’t believe it was real.”, said Army Vet Christopher Goss in disbelief. “A service academy, they going to give me a job as a maintenance technician”.

Goss is one of many who found himself transitioning from one field to the next and for many the journey is full of road blocks.

“When you talk marketable skills, and things that you can immediately get a job with, I was skeptical because a lot of training programs and internships they don’t always lead to jobs” added Goss.

But Lisa Russo, with Atlanta Apartment Association, says their training program is different.

“A lot of time, not just veterans but career changers, they don’t understand how their skills can be transferred,” said Russo. “But our students receive their EPA certification, their CPI which is a certified pool operator, as well as their CAM which is kinda a whole gamut of the trades so plumbing, electrical work, interior and exterior maintenance”.

The six-week course is free for vets. Goss was one of the first to graduate from the program and he’s been working ever since.

“There were companies ready to take me on as well as everyone else in my class I think everyone in my class ended up with a good job a really good job.”

The training program is open to vets and non-vets. For more information go to atl-apt.org.

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