Caritas of Austin

Programs | Services

Why Employers Should Hire Our Clients

Lone Star Offers Employment and Opportunities

Caritas continuously strives to provide the tools necessary for our clients to achieve self-sufficiency. Obtaining and maintaining employment is a major component in clients reaching their goals. Lone Star Food Service has made reaching those goals much more attainable.

Since 1998, Lone Star Food Service has partnered with Caritas Employment Program to provide not only a job but opportunities for internal advancement. For the past nine years, the Austin based business has employed over 15 clients, many of whom remain long-term employees.

“The associates we take on are all eager to work and learn,” Franklin Hall, CEO of the family-run business, said. “We offer authentic opportunities for learning a skilled trade with advancement possibilities”. Lone Star has been operating since 1952 and currently employs six current or former Caritas clients; Vicente Jimenez from Mexico, Osman Hasanovic from Bosnia, Yosef Welledyes from Ethiopia and Omar Soto Congo, Rene Piloto and Erisbel Gonzalo from Cuba.

Plant Manager and Lone Star employee for 11 years, Tony Sousa, is quick to point out that, “Lone Star provides a respectful environment that allows our associates to sharpen their job skills.”

Caritas’ Employment Program assists with job development, creates and maintains employer contacts, matches clients with potential employment opportunities and provides classes that help with job searches. These extensive services are vital to our refugee clients, as the first three to four months from date of arrival are the most critical. Case managers work intensively one on one with each client serving as a liaison between client and employer. This is in addition to helping complete required documentation, enlisting clients for available benefits, providing interpreters when necessary and being a constant resource for assistance. Without this timely hands-on approach our clients would face both difficulty and frustration with the employment and integration process. With support from Lone Star Food Service and other Austin businesses, Caritas was able to provide assistance to close to 400 individuals through our Employment Services Program in 2007.

Hilton Awards Story: Caritas Clients Receive National Spirit Award

Hilton Hotels Corporation recently honored Caritas of Austin clients Omadbek Tursunov, Shalsheh Mandavi, and Adel Kartakila as National Spirit Award winners at their latest award ceremony. The award was given to those the company considers top performers within the Hilton Family of Hotels.

Those honored were part of Caritas of Austin's Employment Program which enabled them to attain their current positions. The program aided in providing employer contacts, offering classes focused on work skills, job searching, and career development.

The recipients of the award were all nominated and later chosen for their quick life-saving response after a fellow co-worker collapsed. All three collaborated in alerting 911 and comforting their fallen teammate till help arrived. As honorees, they each received $140, a Spirit Award plaque, a lapel pin, and other recognition within the hotel.