© 2024
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
An update has been released for the Android version of the WAMC App that addresses performance issues. Please check the Google Play Store to download and update to the latest version.

Workforce Development Program Gives Dropouts A Second Chance

WAMC

     Federal funds are flowing into a workforce development program for high school dropouts in western Massachusetts.   

    The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $1.1 million grant to the YWCA of Western Massachusetts and its YouthBuild program. 

    Congressman Richard Neal this week announced the funding.

   " The YWCA is a grand brand and they take their responsibility very seriously because they have a decades-old reputation," said Neal.

    YouthBuild is a national program that provides academic and vocational education for at-risk adults ages 17-24.

     " It is important because there are people who perhaps in their youth made bad decisions, or were the victims of others' bad decisions and it gives people a chance to do a reset in life and find a path forward," said Neal.

     With the additional federal funding, the YWCA will be able to double to 63 the number of participants in the program, according to Jenniefer Murphy, the Director of Workforce Development at the YWCA.

     "The pathway and opportunity for young people to obtain stability and economic self-sufficiency is here through the YouthBuild program," said Murphy.

     The program participants take classes in English, history, math, and science in a curriculum geared toward helping them pass the High School Equivalency Test (HiSET).  Graduates of the vocational training in the building trades get a certificate that is a construction industry recognized credential.  Students in health worker training have a choice of pursuing certificates in several fields including nursing assistant, home health aide, and paramedic.

    The training courses require a 6-9 month commitment, according to Murphy.

   "It is open enrollment so folks can contact us here at the YWCA," explained Murphy. "Young people who are interested can come by any time of the year and we'll get the application process going."

    Students currently receiving training in the construction trades will help to build a home in Springfield that is a Habitat for Humanity project.

           Baystate Health offers Youthbuild participants opportunities for job shadowing and paid internships.

       Thalysha Besaw, a single mother, said her goal in the YouthBuild program is to become a role model for her 4-year-old daughter.  After completing the health worker training she plans to work and continue studying to become a nurse.

      " They never gave up on me"  said Besaw.  " It is a really good opportunity. They're like family here."

      The Springfield-based YouthBuild program started in 2003.  Since then, 80 percent of the program’s graduates have obtained employment or gone on to advanced training programs, according to data provided by the YWCA.  Five percent of YouthBuild students had new run-ins with the law.

   

 

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
Related Content