By Lindsey Cole
The Oshawa Express

Brandi Patchett spent 10 years of her life working at the Lear factory in Whitby. But when the economy crashed her life changed. The company was forced to lay her off causing her world to turn completely upside down. Her future was unknown, her job questionable. That is until she decided to take charge of her future and pursue a second career. Thanks to the Workers in Motion Centre at the Midtown Mall on John Street in Oshawa, everything became easy and plausible. With the help of funding from the provincial government, Patchett says she knew she would be able to go back to school on the financial end of the spectrum but getting her feet wet after more than 18 years out of school had her a bit worried.

That’s where the centre stepped in and helped her pursue her dream through application
assistance and some genuinely good advice, she says.“Emotionally they really keep you buoyed. It’s really nice to have a place to go to talk to someone about your fears,” she says.“It’s really nice to know there is a place you can go and sit.” Patchett started an environmental technician course at Fleming College in January and will be finished in April 2010.“Water quality is the way to go. What I’d really like to do is aquatic biology,” she
explains. The Workers in Motion Centre has been funded partially by Lear Corporation and the provincial government, and is geared towards helping employees of Lear and Smurfit-MBI who have been laid off after the companies came into hard times. Lori Rosdobutko, an employment specialist with Northern Lights Canada (a company who works on behalf of the province), says these workers need help in order to get their feet on the ground.

“I help them with their job search,” she says, adding she does assessments that are similar to
background checks to assess their goals and financial status.“I answer questions about retraining. This is a place to go for answers.” When it comes to second career choices she says the province will fund up to $28,000 in school related expenses. And the trend towards second careers is growing rapidly she explains.“The second career, a lot of it focuses on the
community colleges. Now most (courses at colleges) are full.” The second career choice started in June 2008 and since then has grown substantially.

“We’ve seen numbers like we’ve never seen. It’s great to be able to help people,” she says.“It’s great when people graduate from their programs.” Tracey Shepstone, who is an assistant coordinator with Workers in Motion, says they do a little bit of everything to help workers who are facing some major decisions.“We listen, that’s a big thing,” she says, adding they help with the endless amount of paperwork, resumes, and applications.“Sometimes people are really down. Let them vent. This is their action centre. It’s our home away from home.” The centre has been in Oshawa since 2007, but hasn’t seen this much activity in its history, she says adding more people are looking for an outlet to help them with a new career.
Patchett says the centre has changed her life, and she hopes more people will turn to it for
help, especially when it comes to planning out a second career.

“Go for it. If you honestly believe in yourself and you believe you want to be better then
why not take advantage of government help? I think it’s one of the scariest nerve wracking
things, but as well you are taking hold of your future in something more solid than the auto
industry.”

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