Click Here for the full list of winners including Champion Participants, Host Agencies and Employers.
2009 National Champion SCSEP Participant
Lorraine Loy
Representative Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri, Lorraine Loy and Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Work
Presented to an older worker who has overcome significant barriers to achieve workplace success.
Lorraine Loy’s positive attitude, perseverance and willingness to learn new skills helped her land a new job and serve as an example for other older individuals who are looking for work.
The 60-year-old and her husband, who suffers from health problems, moved from Louisiana to Houston, Missouri, in search of a better life shortly after Hurricane Rita turned their lives upside-down. However, jobs were scarce, and the couple soon found themselves in a desperate financial situation often choosing between medicine and food.
Never one to rely on charity, Lorraine turned to Experience Works and was given an opportunity to update her job skills through on-the-job training assignments at a local food pantry and the USDA Forest Service. In June, 2008, she accepted a permanent full-time? position with the Forest Service and, for the first time in five years, she began receiving health insurance benefits.
“Experience Works gave me an opportunity to prove myself,” Loy said. “I am eternally grateful.”
Puerto Rico Resident Commissioner, Pedro Pierluisi; Honorable Abel Nazario Quinones, Mayor of the Municipality of Yauco, Puerto Rico; and Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works
Presented to a nonprofit agency or public entity that has provided exceptional on-the-job training opportunities to older workers.
A SCSEP host agency since 2001, the Municipality of Yauco has been extremely generous with its time, facilities and materials providing older workers with the opportunity to achieve a better quality of life.
During the past four years, Yauco served as the training site for 54 Experience Works participants providing training for groundskeepers, office clerks, receptionists, maintenance workers and mechanic’s helpers. Thirty-four of these participants have entered into employment with the Municipality.
Through supportive services, Yauco has provided participants with unsubsidized housing, assistance with first month’s rent and utilities payments. The agency also provides transportation for health services and other appointments.
2009 National Champion Employer
Home Instead Senior Care - Lane County, Oregon
Nancy NesSmith of Home Instead Senior Care and Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works
Presented to an employer with an outstanding record of hiring and retaining older workers
An international provider of non-medical home care services for seniors, Home Instead Senior Care has always recognized the valuable qualities of mature workers depending on their reliability, strong work ethic and ability to relate to other seniors.
The Home Instead Senior Care office in Lane County, Oregon, has demonstrated a strong commitment to hiring older workers. The office offers flexible hours and the majority of its staff is 50 years old or older.
In addition, the Home Instead Senior Care office recently worked with Experience Works to develop a unique training program for SCSEP participants. The specially-designed, two-week training curriculum includes courses in Red Cross CPR, First Aid, The Aging Brain, Alzheimer’s disease, Medication Management and Conflict Resolution. Each graduate receives a Certificate of Completion. To date, 14 participants have completed the program and 11 have secured employment with Home Instead Senior Care.
America’s Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2009
Jack Borden
Experience Works is proud to recognize Jack Borden as America’s Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2009.
Borden, who recently celebrated his 101st birthday, has devoted his life to upholding the law. Among the oldest members of the Texas State Bar Association, he still works 40 hours a week, specializing in real estate and probate work. He also is one of the oldest former FBI Agents.
Over the past several decades, he has partnered with attorneys in several different firms and currently practices law with his nephew, John Westhoff, in Weatherford, Texas.
In addition to his career, Borden has remained active in his community. He was elected to pubic office four times, and each time he was unopposed. He served as the Mayor of Weatherford from 1960 1964 and was recognized as the Outstanding Citizen of Weatherford in 2005. He was married to his late wife, Edith, for 66 years.
He attributes his long life and career to his desire to serve as a role model for younger generations, practicing law in a manner that will encourage them to become lawyers.
This award is named for Cy Carpenter, Board Member Emeritus, who served with distinction on the Experience Works Board of Directors between 1965 and 2007.
Phillip Klutts
Representative Dan Boren of Oklahoma, Phillip Klutts, and Cynthia Metzler, president and CEO of Experience Works
Experience Works Board Chairman Phillip Klutts is the 2009 recipient of the Cy Carpenter Award which honors an individual whose leadership has improved the lives of low-income older Americans by fostering self-sufficiency and promoting community service as embodied in the SCSEP.
The Oklahoma rancher’s lifetime of service has helped hundreds of thousands of older individuals improve their lives through work and meaningful contributions to their communities. He has been involved with Experience Works and its predecessor, Green Thumb, for nearly 30 years serving as board chairman since the mid-1990s.
Klutts also has been a state and national advocate for other significant rural issues. He previously served on the board of directors of the Farmers Union and president of the Oklahoma Rural Water Association. He currently serves as a board member of the Oklahoma Rural Water Association, the Oklahoma Rural Water Association Assurance Group and the National Rural Water Association.
Farming has been a lifelong avocation for Klutts throughout his 45-year career which included 25 years as an engineer at Tinker Air Force Base, and 10 years as CEO of the Oklahoma Farmers Union’s Mutual Insurance Company.
Married for nearly 55 years, Klutts and his wife Josephine have two children, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Experience Works is proud to recognize Jack Borden as America’s Outstanding Oldest Worker for 2009.
