About Us

Career Path Services is a private non-profit incorporated in the State of Washington. Our mission is to help a broad range of people and organizations meet their employment goals. Since we are funded by federal, state and other grants, we are able to provide our services at no cost, although eligibility requirements may apply.

Why should you choose Career Path Services? Because we get the job done! We've been in business since 1971 and have helped thousands find the career or employee they were searching for.

We provide resources for businesses and job seekers alike, both within our own offices, and in shared locations with other agencies. Use the menu bar on the left to learn more about our organization, our partners and the communities we serve.

We have offices in Spokane, Colville and Omak, and have staff located in the Spokane WorkSource Center, WorkSource Columbia Basin (providing services to the Tri-Cities area at in Kennewick, WA) and in several locations in South King County.

Check us out and see what we can do for you!

The Next Generation Zone, our newly created youth employment center housed at WorkSource Spokane was named recipient of the “Jim Chase Asset Builder Award”. The Chase Youth Commission is dedicated to empowering communities to value youth and youth to value communities.

The next Generation Zone, a partnership between Career Path Services, Educational Service District 101, Goodwill Industries of the Inland Northwest and the Spokane Area Workforce Development Council offers education, employment and skills training for 16-21 year olds.  Through career guidance, employment training, assistance with basic skills upgrade, resume preparation and other resources to help young adults successfully transition to self sufficiency.  “This is our chance, as a community, to let people know just how much we value them for their character and contributions to Spokane County Youth,” says Joanne Benham Director of the Spokane Regional Youth Department. 

For more information on the Next Gen Zone check out their website at: http://www.nextgenzone.org

Everybody sing together, "That's what it's all about"

Rehabilitation efforts are worth it

BY REBECCA NAPPI
The Spokesman-Review
April 6, 2008

Jill Murray loves her job. If she could safely climb on the roof of the Habitat Store at the corner of Trent Avenue and Hamilton Street, she would do so and shout out her joy. She's 32 years old. Five years ago, she and her husband cooked meth in their apartment.

They got caught. Their son was taken away. They both went to prison. I've been tracking Jill's post-meth journey since July 2004, when she was getting ready to check into the prison system. We talked again two years later when she got out and was living at St. Margaret's Shelter for homeless women and children in Spokane.

Recently, Jill and I connected for a third time at the Habitat Store. She gave me a tour. Contractors donate new building supplies, and there are used appliances, sinks and toilets. Jill works every day around secondhand building materials. She appreciates the parallel with her personal life. She and her husband, and their 8-year-old son, have all reunited. They are building their sober, second-chance life together.

Jeff Howard is the Habitat Store director. Jeff comes across as a save-the-world-a-person-at-a-time boss, but he's also an astute businessman. He stressed that the store is not a social service agency. Its purpose is to raise money to build Habitat for Humanity homes. But dozens of men and women work or volunteer at the store through programs for hard-to-place workers or because they must fulfill community service requirements.

Jeff interviewed Jill for a warehouse assistant manager job in October. Jill had been at the store for three months through a Career Path Services community jobs program. Jeff liked her work ethic. When he looked over Jill's application, he saw that she had checked yes to the felony question. In the interview, Jill explained about her meth manufacturing conviction. Jeff was surprised. For one thing, Jill's teeth are intact. She didn't lose them to meth rot.

Jeff received 30 applications for the job. He admits now: "If I had not known Jill, I would have set the application aside."

Jill works five days a week, from noon to 6 p.m. She organizes the workers and the volunteers who sort donations, stock shelves and clean the warehouse. She has a commanding voice, and she's not afraid to delegate.

A worker came up to Jill as she showed me around the store. He couldn't figure out how to fill in his time sheet.

Jill yelled, "David! Can you help him?"

In April, the newspaper's focus is on making our kids part of all of our business. Jill is an example of what happens when the system works for determined people. But let's not be in denial how much money and community involvement this requires.

Jill credits St. Margaret's Shelter for providing early support. She also thrived at Summit View, a housing community. Both Catholic Charities ventures rely on donations and volunteers. Jill credits her prison term with teaching her life skills she uses on the job. Taxpayers funded her therapeutic prison courses at Pine Lodge Corrections Center in Medical Lake, and they paid for her son's two years in foster care with his godparents. Career Path Services, which enabled Jill to enter the job force, is funded by local, state and federal contracts. You get the idea.

Sigmund Freud famously said that "love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness." For abused kids, the love part gets messed up. Then, because of that mess, some grow into young adults who commit crimes, get felonies on their records and can't find work. Some take their frustrations out on their children. The cycle continues.

So is it worth our time and money to help the Jills among us? Go to the Habitat Store and ask for Jill. She'll shout her answer from the rooftop.