Legacy Link presented its awards for the 2009 older worker of the year and employer of the year Friday morning at a breakfast ceremony at the Beulah Rucker Museum.
Faye L. Christopher, project director for the Senior Community Service Employment Program, was nominated as the older worker of the year. Sheri Hooper, director of Interactive Neighborhood for Kids, was named employer of the year.
"They’re well-deserving, they’ve contributed to the community," said Linda Phillips, a job developer with the Senior Community Service Employment Program. "They’re getting the word out that older workers have a lot to contribute in experience, in work ethic."
The two recipients will now be in the running for the statewide Georgia Older Workers Network awards.
The Senior Community Service Employment Program is a
Department of Labor initiative that provides job training and employment assistance to older workers. Legacy Link administers the program in Gainesville.
Phillips called Christopher the "poster child" for the Senior Community Service Employment Program.
Christopher has said she began working as a child picking cotton and has been in the work force ever since.
"At age 57, she was unemployed," Phillips said. "She was placed in a training position and then performed so well that in 2007, she became the project director."
Since Christopher took her current position, Phillips said programming has expanded from 13 counties to 23.
Hooper was given the Employer of the Year for providing senior workers with a good work environment.
"INK provides an experience for kids that can shape their future," Phillips said. "And INK works well for the older workers by providing flexible schedules."
Gainesville Mayor Myrtle Figueras presented the awards and spoke to the importance of older workers in the community.
"Each one of us seeks to be useful in life and we want to feel valued," Figueras said. "What you’ve done is you’ve made yourselves stand out."
Hooper said when hiring you can’t judge a book by its cover.
"You need to look inside the person and see who they really are," she said. "Once you reach that passion they have and praise them for what they do it’s amazing what can come out of them."