Kaskaskia College Vice President of Student Services Amy Zanton has announced the college has been approved for an $895,213 grant to continue the Workforce Equity Initiative for a fifth year.
The announcement came at a Community Engagement meeting held Thursday at the Salem Education Center.
Zanton says the goal of the program is to provide short term training that can immediately put minority students to work in jobs breaking the welfare cycle.
“Students who talk about they have never owned anything, their name has never been on anything, and now they are a truck driver making significant income. $80,000 a year, I own a home that my kids and families live in. So those are the types of stories and impacts those grants are making.”
Zanton says the program removes barriers to going to school in addition to tuition.
“Child care, one person had to have a sleep study to be able to get his employment and the grant was able to pay for that study that he couldn’t afford. So it has been a real game changer.”
Zanton is encouraging minorities who need training to get a good paying job to contact her office at the college or recruiter Bunny Garrett.
44 students trained in the past year were honored in the spring for completing certificates in construction, culinary arts, HVAC, industrial technology, CNA, CDL or welding.
