Whenever a newly enrolled participant comes into the Mature Worker Program Office at the Urban League of Detroit and Southeastern MI with a “plan” and is certain about what he or she wants to do, it’s not long before that individual secures a job!  Mr. Glenn Weaver is no exception.  A resident of Wayne County, Mr. Weaver is a native Detroiter.  He described himself as a handsome, intelligent, spry 57 year old African-American.  From the beginning, Mr. Weaver was clear about how MWP could support him and what he wanted to do for his life’s work. 

 

When Mr. Weaver enrolled into MWP on October 1, 2009, he was already taking courses at Wayne County Community College District (WCCCD) and working towards his Associates in Applied Science in Substance Abuse Counseling/Mental Health. He listed on his participant assessment that his employment interest and goals were to work as a substance abuse/mental health counselor. Although Mr. Weaver has held several positions in customer service, sales, direct care for the past 26 years, he knew he wanted to work in Human Services.

 

After Mr. Weaver’s initial intake session and careful review of his participant self assessment, he was assigned to Sobriety House as a counselor trainee.  On November 9, 2009 Mr. Weaver began his training with Sobriety House during the daytime and continued attending classes at WCCCD in the evenings. His first performance evaluation while training at Sobriety House indicated that he is very polite and cooperates well with others and presents himself professionally at all times.  His supervisor appreciates the fact that he arrives on time and is highly qualified to obtain employment in the substance abuse field. 

 

Monday morning, June 6, 2011 Mr. Weaver visited the MWP office and proudly announced that he was offered a full time position as monitor with his host training site Sobriety House! He will earn $10.00 an hour plus benefits. In addition, while training as a participant in MWP, Mr. Weaver has completed 816 hours of education training specific to substance abuse and 81 hours of college education specific to substance abuse. He became a certified counselor upon completion of 180 of the 816 hours of education training specific to substance abuse. 

 

Participants like Mr. Weaver make the work of a MWP Counselor a breeze!  He was focused, determined and all he really needed was the opportunity the Mature Worker Program is able to provide; a relevant training opportunity to support employment goals!  To top things off, Mr. Weaver entered into a 3 year Development Plan contract with Sobriety House and the State of Michigan to become endorsed through the Michigan Certification Board for Addiction Professionals (MCBAP). Upon receiving certification and contingent on funding, it’s likely that he will be offered a professional salaried position with Sobriety House.  Outstanding!