30th Anniversary

A History of VCCS

1988

• Agency was started April 1, 1988.  Incorporation finalized August 16, 1988.
• Official name was Victoria County Youth Employment Services Inc.  Our core funding was $40,000 from the Ministry of Skills Development to provide employment counselling to youth 15- 24.  We had 1.5 staff –  an Executive Director and part time Secretary.
• Our offices were located at 77 Durham Street in Fleming College’s Career House from April 1988 to March 1993.
• In the summer of 1988 we received federal funding to run a summer “Work Orientation Workshop” for students at Fenelon Falls Secondary School at risk of dropping out of school.  It consisted of workshops and job placements.  The program ran for 5 years every summer and eventually expanded to two projects a summer one in Lindsay for girls only as well as a project for boys and girls in the north.

1989

• We received federal funding to run a 26-week introduction to building trades to area women.  The project was funded for 5 years.  Each year 12-15 women were given instruction on a variety of trades and built a house within the workshop.  In our final year a building was built at Ken Rei Park and donated to them.

1991

• The agency applied to change its name to Victoria County Career Services Inc. to reflect the expanded agency clientele who were now adults and youth.

1992

• The agency delivered stay in school workshops to all grade 7 & 8 classes in the county from 1992 to 1994.

1993

• In April 1993 the agency moved to 6 King Street near the Locks.  We started renting the main floor and by the fall had included rental for the basement.  We eventually expanded to into a neighbouring medical office and into another vacant office to the west.
• We set up our first Resource Room and had one computer.
• Job Finding Clubs and Job Search Strategies Workshops started in September 1993.

1994

• Counselling to social assistance recipients began.
• The agency became a member agency of the United Way.

1997

• The Job Connect started 1997 and ran until 2010.
• We started assisting clients to apply for HRDC Training funds.  This program eventually evolved into Second Career.

1999

• A joint student centre with HRDC, and Fleming College began and ran for 5 years.
• Started Volunteer Program for Youth in 1999 and expanded to include adults in 2000.

2000

• Joined Fourinfo and started collecting information on community health and social service organizations and a volunteer database.
• The agency moved to its current location October 1, 2000 in Whitney Town Centre after 10 months of planning.

2008

• YSTEP program launched and continues presently.
• New logo and new operating name, VCCS Employment Services, launched at 20^th AGM June 2008.

2010

• The agency competed and was chosen as the sole Employment Ontario Service Provider to deliver the Employment Services (ES) program.
• The Targeted Initiative for Older Worker Program ran from 2010 – 2017.

2015

• Youth Job Connection and Youth Job Connection Summer began in 2015.

2018

• Celebrating 30 years of service in the community and looking forward to many more successes in the years to come!