Business leaders with a sense of compassion have been asked to team up with a support charity to help young men achieve personal growth and develop their careers.

Transitional Community Services is looking for organisations in a range of sectors to get behind its members as they cultivate skills for success.

A spokeswoman explained that the charity’s Community Bridge Builders programme has provided tailored support services to young men since 2021.

She added that one of the biggest hurdles was members getting and keeping employment.

Aruna Dismont, a programme resource manager at TCS, explained: “We found that it’s not just getting a job, but do these young men have the skills to keep the job, and one day grow themselves into a career, and become a happy and integrated member of society?

“Just a work placement wasn’t enough. It’s more than just the money these guys need.”

She added: “We developed what we call Skills Development Opportunities.

“This is employment, but we focus on the success of the member: how will they learn the most and be the most successful?”

The SDO programme considers what skills are required by members to secure and sustain employment when the charity’s team is not on hand.

It focuses on core skills for workplace success, such as time and money management, hygiene, problem-solving and team work.

TCS leadership coaches are designated to members to provide ongoing, individual support.

They can accompany the young men to appointments, advocate for them, help with planning and act as a liaison between the member and an SDO business, offering the best chance of success in the programme.

Ms Dismont said: “We have found, talking with various potential SDO supporters who have had ‘work placement’ experiences before, the main issue is that the young person had habits or skills that needed improving and the business didn’t have the capacity to grow the person as well as run their business.

“Something as simple as time management or knowing how to effectively use the public transportation system can cause a young person to lose a job, having to start over again.

“That’s where the leadership coach comes in. An LC will take the time to teach a new skill, help them practise it and they’ll even come to the SDO business to support the member further.”

As programme resource manager, Ms Dismont’s role includes plugging any initial gaps before the young men become more self-sufficient.

Members can get bus tickets, haircuts, meal support and other assistance until they start getting paid and can support themselves.

The charity spokeswoman said: “Now, TCS is ready for more local businesses to support this endeavour.

“TCS is looking for businesses with a sense of compassion for young adults and the community, to partner up and work with us to grow Bermuda’s young men.

“SDOs can be in many sorts of work, from restaurant work, to manual labour, hospitality and athletics.”

She added that the “generous support” of donors meant TCS had capacity to support the funding of SDO placements, if a compassionate business is willing but without the resources to take on a member.

Tiffanne Thomas, the charity’s executive director, explained: “Our programme data consistently demonstrated that one of the greatest areas of need was related to employability.

“Thus, the creation of our SDO offering has been intentional.”

Dr Thomas added: “As we have continued to enhance our SDO offerings, I am most pleased that we can now create opportunities that are more closely aligned with member interest and skill set.

“Ultimately, our goal is to support our members with transitioning from having jobs to creating careers.”

• To partner with TCS in a Skills Development Opportunity, contact Aruna Dismont, programme resource manager at aruna@tcscharity.bm, on 707-5432 or 295-4250. Visit www.tcscharity.bm/sdo for more information