Adult Life Training, Inc. (ALTi) provides job skills, financial literacy, and working mentality training to allow our patrons to become self-sufficient working citizens.
ALTi classes also provide re-training in social attitudes and expectations to understand the working class mindset required to gain and sustain un-subsidized employment. Clients learn financial budgeting and methods of dealing with financial deprivation, appropriate attitudes and behaviors for long term job retention, and awareness of pro-active alternatives to conventional employment such as how to start a business or work as a 1099 contract employee.
Financial Literacy training uses purchased curriculum from the Dave Ramsey organization (Lampo Licensing, LLC) which covers having an emergency fund to avoid debt, budgeting so all needs are met every month, rapidly paying off all debts, and learning to live and give as a member of our community.
Computer Job Skills training is in operating small office computers and software. We use BOTH Linux and Microsoft Windows, Libre Office and Microsoft Office (Office 2019 & Office 365), email, calendar, social networks, and more. The goal is building confidence in every kind of computer that a potential employer may use so that our patrons are distinguished from other applicants as job ready.
Our training programs develop confidence, hope, and empowerment to our clients through computer job skills and life skills so that they:
- Develop an awareness of their own genuine ability to change their future (hope)
- Become more self sufficient, reduce or eliminate the need for public assistance
- Make sustainable progress toward achieving economic independence
- Make sustainable progress toward achieving meaningful participation in our community as self-supporting citizens
Individuals who would probably benefit from our help are those who:
- Are changing from an ambivalent attitude to one of willingness to change (Preparation stage)
- Are committed to and / or trying to change their behavior and environment for the better (Action stage)
- Are actively continuing to improve themselves and their environment (Maintenance stage)
- Have relapsed into counterproductive behavior but are committed to getting back on track (Relapse stage moving to Preparation or Action stage)
Our most frequent format is helping individuals who come to our Abundant Life location in formal classes or who walk in 9 am to 4 pm T-F. Our most effective format is technology transfer to customize similar programs in other organizations through partnerships, mentoring, and technical assistance.
Individuals who would probably be better served elsewhere are those who:
- Are looking for a quick fix rather than a permanent improvement through personal changes
- Are unaware that they have a problem and have no intention of changing in the near future (Pre-contemplation stage)
- Are aware they might have a problem, but are unwilling to change (Contemplation stage)
Individuals can come to our facility to receive:
- Formal group computer classes, 3 hours per session, 1 evening per week
- Self-paced instruction using our books
- Hard job skills training (reading, basic math, locating information) with the Indiana WIN system
- Limited individual tutoring
- Indiana Career Connect for resume building and job search
- Resumes
- Nominally supervised computer and Internet access
Formal computer class sessions are 2-3 hours. The books are available for free download on our web site at https://alt-fw.org/public/?page_id=8. The formal courses are:
- Working Computers – how to properly turn on and off a computer and manipulate a window on the computer screen (1 session)
- Internet Search and Job Search – basic introduction to using a web browser. This is a connecting point to the WIN (self-paced hard skills training) system and Indiana Career Connect. (1 session)
- Formatting Text – bold, italic, underline, fonts, font size. Output is a poster about an all you can eat fish fry (1 session)
- Working Multiple Windows – review Working Computers then expand to use several windows at once (1 session)
- Working Files – computer files systems – the underlying reasons for things as well as how to save or retrieve a file (2 sessions)
- Spreadsheets – several projects from simple to complex (6 sessions)
- App Basics – up, down, left, right, home, end, page up, page down, control-home, control-end, control-Z, control-A, delete
- Spread sheet basics – cell names, moving around the spreadsheet, editing, overtype, delete, undo, move, simple formulae
- Telephone List – typing things in rows and columns
- Financial sheet – budgeting basics, using simple formulae, copying columns, using income numbers close to what they would be receiving to reveal to them how much money they actually had pass through their hands last year and causes them to think about what they could have done with 20% savings IF they had only bothered to save.
- Class grade sheet – more difficult formulae, more copy / paste cells, rows, and columns
- Amortization schedule – even more difficult formulae with a bad formula thrown in to teach them how to watch their answers for sensibility and fix things. It also reveals how much borrowing really costs.
- Word Processing – expands on spreadsheets, adding document formatting, margins, tabs, alignment, cover letters, resumes using margins for formatting, resumes using tables for formatting (5 sessions)
- Presentations – expands upon spreadsheets and word processing to make a slide show for business meetings (2 sessions)
We accept referrals but they are not requisite; we are happy to sign and mail provided referral cards to the referring agency.
We can help most clients on site at the Abundant Life campus except those who have a conviction for domestic violence or sex crimes against children, because there is a day care facility on the same campus and we are not trained to handle violent ex-offenders. However, we can help these clients off site provided that someone appropriate is present to maintain a safe environment and that we incur no financial obligations in so doing.
I hope this information helps! Please feel free to call 260.432.0014 x128, email jdnash@alt-fw.org, or write Adult Life Training, Inc., 3301 East Coliseum Blvd, Room 136, Fort Wayne, IN 46805 if we may help you further.