labor lawAdivision of labor law center

One of the major initiatives of the current administration has been utilizing faith-based and community organizations to ease social problems.

The most recent effort in this area was announced last week, when the U.S. Department of Labor awarded $3.8 million to 73 different faith-based and community organizations. All of the organizations are involved in helping unemployed people make career connections. Some of the organizations serve ex-convicts, while others aid those with educational or financial challenges.

The 73 different organizations help workers who are “hard to serve” in 28 states plus the District of Columbia. Of the 73 grantees, 59 are new organizations. The grants awarded under this program were based on competitions.

The 59 organizations with new grants will receive up to $60,000 each. In addition, a competition between a number of previous grantees resulted in 14 of them receiving additional grants of $30,000 to increase their successful programs.

Programs offer a laundry list of services, from career coaching for ex-offenders to English literacy lessons for immigrants from Ethiopia and the Slavic states.

“Faith-based and community organizations play vital roles in helping those in greatest need to find jobs and build better lives for themselves and their families,” said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. “The $3.8 million in grants will go to 73 faith-based and community organizations to provide supportive services as individuals seek to reintegrate into the workforce.”

The projects are aimed at helping “hard to serve” clients from a wide range of backgrounds. These include high school dropouts, ex-offenders, welfare recipients and others who have been unemployed long-term. These clients will be offered support services including career counseling, life coaching, mentoring and other services designed to prepare them to enter the work force.

“Faith-based and community organizations have proven their ability to reach into communities and connect individuals facing barriers to employment to local career resources,” said Assistant Secretary of Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. “These groups are one of the primary links between individuals struggling to gain employment and needed assistance.”

The grants are part of the Labor Department’s ongoing effort to partner existing federal programs with effective faith-based and community organizations to better serve the needy. These recent awards will allow recipients to expand their services to more neighborhoods than ever before.

“Working with every willing partner allows us to better serve those in need,” said Rhett Butler, director of the Department of Labor’s Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. “The organizations receiving funding today are skilled at making connections with those in need, at providing services with a personal touch, and at helping individuals break their cycle of recurring struggles that have kept them from better economic opportunities.”

Two grants went to Arizona, including one to benefit refugees in Tucson. A total of six grants went to programs in the state of California. One will benefit the East African community of Orange County, while another went to a Spanish-language group in Oakland. Grants also went to a Slavic community group and a Vietnamese group, both in Sacramento.

A number of community organizations under the program serve ethnic groups. These include an Ethiopian community center in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a Latin American organization in Camden, New Jersey.

Several awards went to groups that work with ex-offenders. These include a rehabilitation group in St. Petersburg, Florida, Pinellas Ex-Offender Re-entry Coalition in Clearwater, Florida, and Texas Re-Entry Services of Fort Worth.

Among the faith-based organizations, Loaves & Fishes Ministries of Hartford Connecticut received $50,000. Eaglevision Ministries, Inc. in Baltimore also received an award. Also among the winners was the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Salem, Oregon.

The Hard Hatted Women, Inc. of Cleveland, Ohio  and the Pharr Literacy Project of Pharr, Texas also received awards.

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