Jericho Rudolph is 19 years old and has a dream of becoming a vet someday. He joined LIFT the TriState because he plans to work for a few years in order to save money to go to college. “This program has given me the skills I will need to find a job easily,” he says. Jericho is one of the youngest in the second graduating class of LIFT the TriState. The participants come from a wide variety of backgrounds and are mostly under and unemployed adults who are looking for a chance to enter the workforce.

LIFT stands for Logistics, Inventory Management, Facilities Management and Transportation. LIFT the TriState is a 10-week long job-training program launched by the Freestore Foodbank in partnership with Belflex Staffing and Gateway Community and Technical College. LIFT provides hands-on warehouse and logistics training to program participants as well as assistance with soft skills, resume building, job placement, interview and job readiness training.

Upon completion of the program, graduates earn the following certifications: Forklift Operator Certificate, Certified Logistics Associate Certificate, ServeSafe Food Handling Certificate and Certificate of Completion from the LIFT the TriState program.

The first graduating class of LIFT the Tristate had a nearly 100% placement rate with many of the applicants receiving multiple job offers. The second graduating class has 15 participants. Many of them are already working through Upshift which is an online digital platform that connects workers and employers via mobile and web applications while actively pursuing other job opportunities. We are now taking applications for the next session of LIFT which will start on April 23, 2018. In order to apply, click here.