Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson and the city's workforce development leader, Lynn McVeigh, are launching a new program to help more residents in underserved communities learn new skills to get high-paying jobs. He said he would launch it.
Organizers of the initiative, called Workforce Dallas, are working with nonprofit organizations to reach residents in low-income areas of the city and connect them with employers like Parkland Medical Center, American Airlines and Amazon to help them find jobs. We plan to provide training and placement opportunities. McBee said the goal is to eventually help up to 10,000 residents a year develop job skills.
Its goals are primarily to help South Dallas residents earn more money to break the cycle of poverty, and to help Dallas-based employers attract more labor from those with roots in the city. It's about building a pipeline to pull it out.
“We've found that job fairs don't get people to work. We need a more inclusive and inclusive approach,” McVie said. dallas morning news on wednesday. “You can't expect someone to come in and identify with some job. Then it's left to them to figure out the training and everything else.”
She said the program will begin with a pilot phase and run through Labor Day, focusing on residents of the 75216 zip code in the South Oak Cliff area. Local nonprofit Four Oak Cliff assists residents in the transportation, health care, information technology, and construction industries.
McBee said Workforce Dallas plans to solicit donations from individuals to help provide transportation, child care and pay for participation in training programs. He said the goal is to train at least 50 to 100 people in the pilot program and then expand.
“This isn't just about connecting people to jobs. This is about helping people find their fit and foster upward mobility,” McVie said.
For example, she said, you can train to become a patient care technician at Parkland and eventually work your way up through the skills you learn. Some local nonprofits are helping residents enroll in GED programs to overcome educational barriers.
She estimated that a fully developed program could cost $3 million a year. The program has currently raised about $100,000, she said.
A study commissioned by Mr Johnson and published last year recommended adding a workforce czar and plans to improve job opportunities for residents.
A report from research and consulting firm Cicero Group found that Dallas residents ages 25 and older, especially in South Dallas, lack opportunities to learn new job skills and advance their careers. This leaves many people unable to earn more money and forced to take low-wage jobs with high health risks, contributing to generations of families living in poverty.
According to the report, about 480,000 of Dallas' 1.3 million residents are working-age adults, and 40% of households are low-income. The study found that in Dallas, residents between the ages of 45 and 64 are the least educated age group, compared to 54% of white workers in jobs that pay more than $32,000 a year. It also found that 16% of Hispanic workers, 15% of Black workers, and 15% of Asian and other ethnic workers. group.
In January, Johnson appointed McBee to lead efforts to improve work opportunities for residents. The report also recommends entering into agreements with existing organizations focused on employment and education development, better promoting local programs to those who need them, and ensuring people are informed and ready for new careers. It recommended the creation of a central hub that could support the pursuit of opportunities.
“Workforce Dallas is about investing in our people,” Johnson said in a statement. “This is about improving historically underserved and overlooked communities, especially south Dallas, and breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty.”
