Job coaches Kai Webb, left, and Jessica Moon work in the Bridge City Mentors office downtown.

There’s a new matchmaker in town, specializing in long-term relationships between businesses and job applicants.

Bridge City Mentors, a Portland-based employment advocacy program, has opened a second location in Astoria. It expands the North Coast’s limited resources for vocational rehabilitation and job placement.

The job development organization offers free job preparation, mentorship, application assistance and advocacy for people with disabilities, veterans and others facing barriers to employment.

The mentorship begins with application assistance and job placement, and they work with employers to support employees through the first few months after hiring.

Dee Norbury, the group’s director, said the decision to expand to Astoria came after she found out the area did not have a job development agency.

“I knew that this was an opportunity to assist our business in growing, but also to really make an impact on this community,” Norbury said. “People need jobs and that’s our specialty. We’re matchmakers. We can totally match employees and applicants with employers who are seeking specific skills.”

The organization has contracted with the Oregon Department of Human Services’ Vocational Rehabilitation branch, which has a small team in Clatsop County.

Its vocational counselor, Jen Munson, worked for 2 1/2 years to bring Bridge City to Astoria. She said that the contract will allow her to better serve people in the community who have disabilities and address the backlog of applications.

“Prior to Bridge City, I was doing all that sort of partnership myself,” Munson said. “Bridge City will do the boots on the ground work.”

The business is networking with employers in the community. They have been involved in chamber of commerce events and are meeting with potential clients.

“What we’re finding is that everybody is hiring, so we just have to continue meeting with people,” said Kai Webb, a mentor at Bridge City. “And I think the best part about what they hear from us is that our services are free, that they don’t have to spend any money, they don’t have to do any paperwork.”

Staff member Jessica Moon will be handling cases in the region, and she recently placed their first local client with a job at a health care facility. She is focusing on sharing information with employers about hiring people with disabilities.

Norbury said the group hopes to combat the stigma around disability and to educate employers. Their clients include veterans, people with mental health challenges and those with physical and cognitive disabilities.

“I think that (vocational rehabilitation) is just not as well known, and anybody can apply to VR,” Norbury said. “Even if you don’t think you have a disability, if you’re seeking employment and you are finding it difficult, there’s a challenge or barrier to you finding that employment. Apply for VR, they’ll either deny you or accept you.”

Bridge City is a referral based program, and they often receive clients through the state.

The program is also working with the Department of Human Services, Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare, WorkSource Oregon and the Youth Transition Program. They are also open to private clients.

“It’s a group effort, all the agencies want to work together. They want to work with agencies like ours, they want to work with VR. But it’s not really built into the fabric of this thing to talk to each other,” Norbury said.

She said she is seeing more collaboration among agencies, and hopes to work toward their common goals of job placement, increased internet access and housing assistance.

“Our work will be in continuing to go to chamber events, continuing to speak out about what it is we do, monitoring the employment environment here in Astoria, and getting to know other agencies and employers,” she said.