DATE: Friday, July 25, 1997                 TAG: 9707230177

SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 02   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth 

SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan 

                                            LENGTH:   70 lines

FOR IDA BARBOUR RESIDENTS CHANGE IS IN THEIR HANDS

Will Portsmouth's grand experiment to get public housing residents off welfare and into jobs be successful? If it is, this city will be the pilot program for federal projects nationwide.

The Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority has contracted with a company called The Noah Group to assess, train and find jobs for the adults in the housing project known as Ida Barbour Park.

By coincidence, the Noah Group is headed by a Portsmouth native, Jeremiah Griffin. Griffin's parents still live in Cavalier Manor and he was graduated from I.C. Norcom. No doubt, the success of his work here is very important to him.

Being on the spot in his hometown does not seem to bother Griffin, who seems very confident that his program will be as successful here as it has been in other cities.

But it won't be easy.

The key to the program is that Noah guarantees jobs for everybody who completes the training component. Of course, as Griffin quickly points out, only those who are likely candidates for success are admitted to the job-training segment. Others are sent to other programs to bring them up to speed before they become part of the training that guarantees a job.

``We're a business,'' Griffin said. ``We're not warm and fuzzy. People must succeed in our program.''

Griffin said that the profit motive is good for the project. They can't let people fail if they expect to keep their record of success that helps them beat out competitors for the big jobs like the one in Portsmouth.

PRHA anticipates receiving a $35 million Hope grant from the federal government to pay for the Ida Barbour experiment over the next five years. Among other things, the money will provide not only training for residents. It also will help them with transportation to jobs, child care and eldercare for those who take care of parents and other older family members.

The program will go on long past the training and job placement, Griffin said. The residents will form groups as they pass through Noah's assessment system. The groups will continue to meet and people who have problems on the job will be able to discuss them with their peers.

Sometimes, Griffin said, the problem is with the employee. Friends often can help a person better understand a situation or can at least remind a worker than the boss is the boss.

Since work is something I've always done, I've long ago come to accept the notion that a boss may not always be right - but the boss is the boss. But many people with less work experience cannot see beyond their own frustrations and that gets them into trouble.

I was interested in the citizen's response to the plan, so I went over to Ida Barbour one night for a tenant meeting. Many of the residents appeared skeptical. One young woman said she has participated in other programs and still has no job.

``Just give me the money and I'll go somewhere else,'' another woman said. She did not realize that there is no provision for doling out money in this program. People either participate in the training or they go on their own.

Another person suggested that there should be compensation for people already working. It's human nature to want to put down new things. It's also very human to ask for money if you think somebody might give it to you.

In this case there is no money for individuals. Instead, they are being offered a new way of life - if they opt to sign up.

Both the federal government and the city are trying hard to make a difference in the lives of the parents and children who live in Ida Barbour. But, as Joyce Drummond of Noah told the residents the night I was there, their lives will change only if they want to change.

``You can be anything you want to be but it's not going to happen if you don't make it happen,'' she said. ``There is no magic, just a lot of hard work.''

The program's success depends on the Ida Barbour residents.

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