Job Training and Financial Education
The Goal:
Move low-income people out of poverty by giving them the tools they need to maintain long-term financial stability
- Last year trained over 5,000 people
- Launched a new green jobs training program
- Provided free tax preparation for 40,000 people who received $44 million in tax benefits
The Importance of Growth Sector Jobs
For our economy to prosper, we need to give people the skills they need to compete in the 21st century workplace. We are training people in growth areas like green jobs, technology and healthcare so they will have jobs in industries that are thriving now and that will continue to prosper in the future.
Maximizing Wages for Long-term Financial Stability
Job growth in L.A. County over the past decade has been led by low-paying service and retail sector jobs that typically do not come with health insurance or other benefits. As a result, 15% of people in L.A. County live in poverty. One health crisis can tip them over the edge. We are helping families maximize their wages through better budget management, making use of their tax benefits and incentivizing them to save.
Jayshawn’s Story: Building a Future on Green Energy
Jayshawn English has a big dream in life: to make a living out of saving the world.
“I want to convert wind turbines into solar wind turbines so we can store more energy,” says the 21-year-old. It’s been a long road for Jayshawn, who grew up in a tough neighborhood in Compton. A few years ago, he was homeless, in trouble with police and struggling to find his way in life.
Eventually, he enrolled in YouthBuild, a year-long program run by United Way partner Venice Community Housing Corporation. As part of the program, students get hands-on experience in green construction, which Jayshawn soon realized was a hot topic.“Here we were talking about these things in the classroom and it was all over the TV. Even the President was talking about going green and how all these jobs were opening up and I was thinking, ‘Okay, I’ve got a head start on this,’” he says.
Jayshawn is now working part-time installing solar panels and taking classes in energy-auditing at Santa Monica College with the hope of owning his own wind turbine business. “I was at rock bottom. I had nothing at all. Now I have my diploma, a part-time job and I’m going to school,” he says. “If I keep it up, maybe I can go to the White House one day, shake hands with the President and install some solar panels on the roof,”
After years of toiling in a low-wage job and living in poverty with her 3 children, Monica was able to give her family a better life. View Monica’s story.
