September 20, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Four foundations have contributed $20-million to a new effort to work with the U.S. Department of Labor to train low-income people for skilled jobs that can become the basis of a strong career.
The National Fund for Workforce Solutions has received commitments from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Baltimore; the Ford Foundation, in New York; the Hitachi Foundation, in Washington; the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, in Baltimore; and the federal government.
The effort aims to attract an additional $200-million from local and regional sources. That money will be needed to train 50,000 people and help them get jobs by 2012.
The money will pay for local work-force-development programs that bring together charities, businesses, and government. One pilot program already under way is SkillWorks Boston, a worker-training program that has helped more than 500 low-wage workers expand their skills and earn promotions or raises.
The National Fund for Workforce Solutions aims to assist as many as 30 such efforts around the country, with 10 programs already selected to receive grants of $450,000 each over the next three years.
Recipients so far include the Baltimore Workforce Collaborative and Job Ready Pennsylvania.
‘Global Economy’
“This national fund is part of a broad strategy to combat poverty in America,” said Ralph Smith, senior vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
He added: “We believe one of the great challenges of our time, for our nation and for philanthropy, is strengthening American competitiveness in an emerging global economy.”
Said Barbara Dyer, president of the Hitachi Foundation: “We envision a world in which at least 50,000 people who now view themselves to be in dead-end jobs have careers with a future.”
More information about the National Fund for Workforce Solutions is available online at the fund’s Web site.
