Black Hills Works; changing lives in the Black Hills Part 2

In this conclusion to the Black Hills Works Series, Matt Klinger from Black Hills Works shares about the employment support side of the program. 

“On the employment support side, we provide the services for individuals with disabilities, and part of those services includes training them on social interactions, social awareness, and community resources. Then our team, we find local businesses in our community and we make connections and build relationships, and we discover opportunities within their business models where they have a need. And we have a person that can fill that need. And then we go we make that connection with them. We train that individual on both their soft skills and their hard skills, and we provide continual support to make sure that that long relationship is successful.”

Prior to Black Hills Works being opened in the 1950’s this was a resource that was being lost to the community. Now, as more businesses are experiencing a shortage of workers, Black Hills Works is one resource that can bridge that gap. 

“The recent great resignation, if you want to call that, or the current job market as it is, has provided quite a few opportunities for us where businesses are exploring new opportunities to staff their workforce.  And we create that connection for them.”

Local businesses are not the only ones to profit from this connection. The clients at Black Hills Works gain immeasurable benefits as they are placed into the workforce of the Rapid City community. 

“Our overall goal, probably more our mission is to provide a great quality of life for everybody supported. And as part of having a great quality of life that encompasses having a meaningful career. Every person in the world understands the value of working and what that does for you. It’s not just the money aspect, it’s the having meaning and purpose and  by us providing these opportunities for our individuals supported, really give them a great quality of life all the way around.”

Black Hills Works has also created opportunities within their organization to help provide opportunities for their clients.

“We have this incredible opportunity, where we not only find opportunities, we sometimes create them. So you’ve probably heard of some of our enterprises as Black Hills Works under our umbrella. We have Unique Auto Group, we have Eco Works, and these are miniature businesses, if you will, that are managed and supported through Black Hills Works. And we provide job opportunities for our individual serves while providing a great opportunity and resource for our community for keeping them in work.”

For more information about Black Hills Works, go to their website here.