Last May, Peirce forged a work-study partnership with the
Dixon House, a community-based organization under the umbrella of
Diversified Community Services. We’ve been
hearing a lot about the success of the program so we wanted to learn more about
the work and the students who are participating.
We recently sat down with Yolanda Sowell, the computer lab
assistant at Dixon House who oversees the Peirce work-study team, and Julian
Knox, the first student who was brought on board as part of the Peirce – Dixon
House partnership. Yolanda is a Peirce College alum and is currently pursuing
her Master’s in Public Leadership. Julian is currently a senior at Peirce with
only one class left towards his Bachelor’s in Information Technology.

The Peirce students who participate in the work-study
program are responsible for maintaining two computer labs, among many other
things. The labs are part of the
Philadelphia KEYSPOT program
that helps bridge the digital divide by giving low income individuals access to
computers and internet. The program is
managed by The Mayor’s Commission on Literacy, Philadelphia Department of Parks
and Recreation, Philadelphia’s Office of Innovation & Technology and Drexel
University. One of the computer labs has 10 computers and
the other is located within a classroom and has 6 computers.

According to Malik Brown, director of Dixon House, there are
many working adults across Philadelphia who are committed to improving their
lives and economic circumstances. “While
working hard is certainly part of the equation, low to moderate income families
need additional tools to make the long climb out of poverty to
self-sufficiency. The strategic
partnership with Peirce College compliments our work force development
activities. Diversified is honored to
partner with Peirce College to help improve the lives of adults and families
throughout Philadelphia.”
Currently there are eight students from Peirce who
participate in the program. “We’re fully
staffed and because of the relationship with Peirce we’re able to be open 43
hours per week.” Yolanda tells us.
In addition to IT, everybody in the work study program helps
with resumes, job searching, Microsoft office, and basic computer skills. “We
don’t just look at students as work-study, they’re part of Dixon House and are
addressed as Mr. or Miss,” Yolanda says. The community members who come to the
Dixon House are referred to as clients.

Everyone has their specialties with helping people and
improving the lab itself. The Peirce IT
students focus on IT but they’re also able to pick up on other valuable skills.
“Everyone is learning how to teach, and how to use soft skills,” says Julian.
“As I transition into an IT professional, I’m going to have to work with upper
management as well as users, and I’m already getting good experience with that.
I get to interact with Malik Brown (Director of Dixon House), Miss Yolanda, the
other team members as well as the clients,” he explains. Yolanda also realizes
the importance of these soft skills and tells us, “When I get time, I take them
to the main building so that they can meet the staff and executives over there
and network.”

Back at the Dixon House, one of their primary
responsibilities is teaching courses in Microsoft Office that leads to
certification of the Dixon House clients. “Mr. Julian and Miss Tamika are the
lead teachers – they actually conduct computer classes and they have
assistants, Mr. Troy, Miss Renee and Mr. Terrell,” explained Yolanda.
Julian elaborates, “Miss Yolanda, Miss Tamika and myself
developed a curriculum for a 8 week class. We leveraged the
GCF Learn Free tutorials and grabbed
what we thought were the best and fastest way to learn from that. I’ve
personally taught five different people MS Office.” In addition to MS Office,
they also teach other computer skills, “Many people have never touched a
computer before so we have to start with the basics of turning it on and off.
We work from there to helping people set up their email, and then on to
internet basics,” Julian tells us.

Many of the clients also come to the Dixon House for help
with resumes and finding a job. Julian and Yolanda put together a resume
template that the clients use. “Everyone that comes to me gets a job,” Julian
boasts. “I help input their information into the template, make sure their
wording is correct and make sure the keywords are in the resume,” he adds.
Yolanda proudly explains, “All of the Peirce students have
helped someone at some point with a resume and they’ve gotten a job because of
it. We actually have a job board and when one of our clients gets a job we go
around the building and ring a bell so everyone in the building knows that
another client has just landed a job. We also add their name to the job board.
There are currently 11 names on the board.”
In addition, the students are also involved in Philly Goes
to College, which Mayor Michael Nutter rolled out at a press conference held at
the Dixon House. The Peirce students have been trained so that they are all
familiar with the process and how to do applications, financial aid, and
writing essays for scholarships.

When asked for final thoughts, Yolanda excitedly told us, “I
couldn’t ask for a better team, I couldn’t have imagined this just a few years
ago and I’m so grateful also that I went to Peirce College because it’s a
family and I knew I was going to get quality students when I reached out. I am
truly blessed to have them here, they are an awesome team together, it’s such a
good atmosphere!”
A special thanks to Diversified Community Services’ Dixon
House for the partnership opportunity and all of the students involved who make
it a success!