PHILADELPHIA-- The Job Opportunity Investment Network has announced new grants totaling $850,000 for initiatives that will qualify more of the region's underemployed workers and new job seekers for living-wage jobs in the "green" and health care industries. JOIN, a regional funding collaborative founded in 2008, will invest at least $2.7 million to increase the number of workers in the Greater Philadelphia area who earn family-sustaining wages.
Living Cities, an innovative philanthropic collaborative of 21 of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions, awarded JOIN a grant of $250,000 for an initiative to prepare low-skilled job seekers for employment in the clean energy sector.
This pilot project, under the leadership of one of JOIN's founding partners, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, brings together the Smart Energy Initiative of Southeastern Pennsylvania, the Federation of Neighborhood Centers and three of its member agencies (Diversified Community Services, Friends Neighborhood Guild, and United Communities Southeast Philadelphia), and the City of Philadelphia to ensure low-skilled adults have access to well-paying jobs and advancement opportunities in this emerging industry. Specifically, the grant will support the development and implementation of a coordinated infrastructure to assess new and marginally employed Philadelphia workers and connect them to pipelines for advancement in green jobs. Grant activities begin in May 2009, and will continue through August 2010.
JOIN has awarded $300,000 over three years to each of two Industry Partnerships, The Pennsylvania Partnership for Direct Care Workers, managed by the District 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund, and the Delaware County Health Care Employers Consortium, managed by Pathways PA. The grants will fund initiatives to qualify unemployed adults and workers in low-skill, low-wage jobs for higher-skill positions in allied health and nursing that pay family-sustaining wages. The initiatives will help meet the needs of health care providers, which are currently facing critical shortages of qualified allied health and nursing professionals.
Industry Partnerships include groups of employers and workers from within the same industry, collaborating with education and training providers to address employers' common workforce needs.
According to a study released this month by PathWays PA, a third of Philadelphia households and more than one out of every five Delaware County households lacks income sufficient to meet basic family needs. Forty percent of working Philadelphians are earning poverty wages, and 36% have found only part-time work. More than 60% of Philadelphia adults are classified as "low-literate."
The Founding Partners in this public-private initiative are the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania, The William Penn Foundation, the Philadelphia Workforce Investment Board, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Labor and Industry. JOIN is also supported by contributions from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and Living Cities.
United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania
www.liveunitedsepa.org
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