By Monica Chen

mchen@heraldsun.com; 419-6636

DURHAM -- Willie Gibson lost his job two months ago.

Like many in the country, he has been searching for jobs without much success. But with the help of a new program that links together disparate workers' training and community organizations in Durham, Gibson might be able to head into a job with a local employer in the coming months.

By starting the Straight Line Project recently, the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce has enlisted the help of Durham Technical Community College, the Durham Office of Workforce and Economic Development and various community leaders to provide residents of Northeast-Central Durham a "straight line" from unemployment, to receiving vocational training and then, a shot at open job positions with local employers like Duke University and Merck & Co. Inc.

At an orientation session recently, some 25 residents showed up to hear about the program from the Rev. Melvin Whitley. Some of the residents are now in the process of applying for the program and enrolling in GED classes.

Gibson said he would like working with computers or electronics at some point. At his last job, he contracted with a temp agency. Gibson didn't graduate from high school, but he said he plans on taking the GED.

"I'm 51 years old. I'm not giving up -- for me, for my family and the people I love," Gibson said.

Keith Burns, chairman of the chamber, said he and chamber President Casey Steinbacher saw a need in helping to funnel residents directly from no skills or low-skilled employment to getting an education and then getting a job.

"We looked around and didn't see a way for people to go directly from no skills to getting a job," he said. "That's what this project aims to do."

To start, the program will focus on the residents of the economically depressed Northeast-Central Durham, Whitley said.

"We've had a lot of businesses to roll out of East Durham because of crime," Whitley said.

Whitley and Michael Page, chairman of Durham County Commissioners, organized the community portion of the program.

"One of the problems was that we have people capable of working, but the opportunity for them was not there," Whitley said. "Income was low because of so many people being unemployed. Another problem was substance abuse. The other problem was illiteracy and people getting their GED."

For a worker like Gibson, he would have to take the GED before enrolling in a program at Durham Tech called JobsNOW, which provides Durham workers with occupational training with a grant from the state.

The OEWD in turn worked to contact employers with available jobs, including Duke and Merck.

"We're giving you more training so you can become a more versatile employee to an employer such as Duke and Merck," said Jamie Glass, vice president of Corporate and Continuing Education at Durham Tech.