Editor’s note: This is the third of four stories in our Neighbors Helping Neighbors series. The series calls attention to little-known causes that change lives in our community — and how you can help.

POULSBO — It’s been a little agency that roars.

Since it started keeping records in 1995, Sound Works Job Center has had more than 42,000 client visits for help with resumes, cover letters, or job searches. It’s connected its clients with 6,000-7,000 full- and part-time jobs. And those clients returned more than $20 million, in terms of wages earned and spent, to local communities.

“We are the only [agency] in our area that does what we do,” director Bob Middlebrook said Dec. 15.

Sound Works Job Center is a non-profit that was established in 1988. Until 1995, when Middlebrook joined the one-person agency (it is overseen by a board of directors), it primarily helped job-seekers find employment doing casual labor. But Middlebrook, with his experience as an Air Force veteran and 30-year career as a civilian investigator in the military branch, built relationships with local defense contractors, the bases and shipyard, and became a conduit for those seeking work and those seeking workers.

It provides its services at no cost, supported by donations, grants and the United Way.

“Many of the individuals we work with do not have access to phones, addresses, computers with Internet access or a warm and caring place to seek employment,” the Sound Works website states.

For job seekers, it all starts with the resume. You’ll meet Middlebrook and talk about experience, skills, and what you’re looking for. He’ll teach you how

to write a cover letter and a resume tailored for the job you’re seeking. He also teaches a class on interviewing. Then, he’ll help you look for work.

Filling out the resume portion on federal job sites is “real tricky,” he said. “That’s my specialty.”

He added, “I can even help people get their credit cleaned up (so they can find employment). It’s knowing who to call or what to do.”

Middlebrook estimates that 50-75 percent of his clients find long-term employment. “I don’t track it, but that’s my estimate,” he said.

One of those clients is Jacinda Lawrence, a case manager in the Suquamish Tribe Human Services Department since 2013.

“He was able to sit down with me and create a resume that landed me this job,” she said Dec. 16. “I was working at the time doing housekeeping, but I needed to make more money. Now I have a job and a career.”

The resume is a presentation of your background and skills, and “it’s very important to know what type of language to speak,” Lawrence said. “You have to formulate it to whatever position you’re going for. You might have more than one resume.”

Lawrence said she’s referred clients to Middlebrook. “He drove out to meet them,” she said. “He’s a real nice man. He’s willing to go to any length and he want to make sure you get paid top dollar.”

Middlebrook shared a couple of success stories. One client was having trouble finding a job. “She couldn’t get anything,” Middlebrook said. “But she had all this volunteer experience, and we built that into a resume. She was hired by a Navy contractor for $50,000 a year.”

Another client had a disability and was “extremely shy and didn’t want to go through the disability program,” Middlebrook said. Through Sound Works, the client was hired as a mechanic at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

Another client had a debt that was reflected on his credit report. But the guy was working on paying it off. Middlebrook helped the client get his credit cleaned up — opening the way for a job as a helicopter mechanic at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

For several years, Sound Works received an annual grant from the city and operated out of a small city-owned office space next to Public Works. But it had to vacate that space in 2013 to make way for an expansion of Coffee Oasis. Middlebrook now keeps office hours Mondays and Wednesdays at North Kitsap Fishline, Thursdays at Gateway Fellowship, and Tuesdays and Fridays in Little Boston at the library or the Port Gamble S’Klallam elder center. He’s also available by appointment.

Poulsbo Mayor Becky Erickson, who had the tough job of cutting Sound Works loose, is glad the agency is operating and has spread its wings throughout North Kitsap.

“He is a nice man and he works real hard,” Erickson said of Middlebrook. “We need folks who can help businesses find employees and help people find jobs. I’m glad he has office hours at Fishline. That’s a good match.”

Middlebrook enjoys what he does — and he enjoys the interaction with his clients. He told of one client he worked with; Middlebrook was more confident than she was that she would get the job she was interviewing for and he bet her a dollar she’d get it.

One day she walked into his office at Fishline and handed him a dollar.

SOUND WORKS’ SERVICES
For job seekers
— Individual employment counseling, one-on-one employment interview training, job referrals and placement assistance.

— Professional resume and cover letter preparation and writing, including resumes for jobs at Naval Base Kitsap and the naval shipyard.

— Assistance filling out employment applications.

— Assistance applying for unemployment benefits, Basic Food program, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

— Employment referrals through the WorkSource SKIES computer system. “We are the only organization in our area which is allowed to give these referrals,” according to Sound Works’ website.

— Typing and 10-key speed testing.

— Help locating low-income housing, food, clothing, drug discount information, legal advice, daycare, dental and medical care, and free cell phones.

For employers
— Workers whose skills are matched to job requirements.

— A computerized pool of thousands of potential employees.

— State criminal background checks.

— Quick access to qualified workers for permanent and temporary positions.

Info: 360-779-1160.

HOW YOU CAN HELP
Sound Works Job Center accepts volunteer assistance and donations. “Some people give small donations,” director Bob Middlebrook said. “Any amount is appreciated. I can make money last a long time.”

Contact Middlebrook at P.O. Box 2019, Poulsbo, WA 98370. 360-779-1160. Online: www.homepages.donobi.net/soundworks/.