Omaha nonprofit Freedomtainment held its first-ever Level Up Career Fair at the Gene Leahy Mall on Saturday, helping job seekers

OMAHA, Nebraska — On Saturday, a local nonprofit organization called Freedomtainment hosted its first-ever Level Up Career Fair at the Gene Leahy Mall in the hopes of providing job seekers with a criminal record with a fresh start.

Raquel Henderson, the host, mentioned that she makes it a habit to strive toward the goal of finding employment opportunities for more people, particularly people of color.

“I do a lot of job placement in our community and help bridge the gap between opportunity and our people,” Henderson said. “I do a lot of volunteer work in our community as well.”

Mary Tohouegnon attended the fair in the hopes of gaining employment in the nursing field. In addition to that, she need assistance in cleaning her record. Because of all the work that Henderson has put in to assisting Tohougue and other people, she is now known as “the job whisperer.”

Tohouegnon stated, “She has assisted me in the process of expungement in a significant manner.” “And assisting me in making a return to the nursing profession,” she added.

The purpose of Henderson’s initiative to organize this job fair was to provide individuals who are working hard to put their troubled pasts behind them and find new opportunities for employment.

Henderson stated that “the objective is to get persons into sustainable and gainful employment in the hopes of lowering and addressing the systemic issues that are in our community right now.” “The goal is to get individuals into sustainable and productive employment,”

Merck was one of the numerous companies that had booths at the employment fair. According to Manager Ryan Bourek, the company was excited to talk with prospective employees because they are working hard to recover from the pandemic.

According to Bourek, “with all of the COVID constraints, we hadn’t been able to keep up with our hiring.” Today, we are out in full force trying to recruit candidates for the open roles that are now available.

Tohouegnon reported that she was presented with many job offers after attending the fair, which accelerated the process of finding a new employment for her.

Other applicants’ primary sentiment was one of gratitude for the opportunity to try again and improve their chances of being selected.

Molly Gibson believes that “everyone should have the ability to go forward after a bad judgment or previous difficulties in their history,” and she expressed these sentiments in the following way: “It’s nice to see them coming together for the community in that way.”

The expo had participation from nine different employers, and Henderson has high expectations that it will continue to expand in the years to come.