Goodwill Industries of the Coastal Empire, Inc. is among 45 Goodwill agencies across the country that are taking part in a program funded by Walmart stores to provide job training and placement services to women.
The program, known as Beyond Jobs, is funded through a $7.7 million grant from the Walmart Foundation and is designed to reach women who are unemployed or underemployed.
The new funding will help broaden the reach of a program begun in 2010 to serve 1,342 women in five U.S. markets to serving an expected 12,250 women in 49 communities.
“Each woman in the program will receive a complete career assessment including job training, placement services and additional support to help them achieve economic security and advance in their careers,” said Brenda Pollen, the local Goodwill’s director of workforce development.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, only 26 percent of the women who lost their jobs during the recession have regained them. Last year, more than one out of four women was still looking for work after more than a year of job hunting.
Over the 30-month grant period, Goodwill will work with women to provide them the tools to achieve their educational, career and financial goals. Once participants are placed in jobs, they receive support to retain them, to further their education, and to advance in careers within their chosen industries.
“Not only will this program help to place women, no matter their circumstances, in jobs, it will also give them everything they need to support themselves and their families, in the long term,” said Pollen.
Interested applicants should contact Ansley Williams at 912-354-6611 ext. 113 or 912-429-4293.
