Baltimore City Allocates $5M To Launch Train Up Workforce Training Program
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Baltimore City will use nearly $5 million of its American Rescue Plan Act funding to launch a free workforce training program, Mayor Brandon Scott announced Wednesday.
In the first year of the initiative, known as Train Up, the city is awarding grants to 17 organizations that will train Baltimore residents on essential skills needed in the healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing and tech industries.
"This program is specifically designed to provide free job training to unemployed and underemployed residents who were impacted by COVID-19 and the pandemic," Scott said.
Long before the pandemic, many communities in the city were systemically disadvantaged and faced significant challenges that hindered their ability to get a job, he said.
In addition to training, Train Up will take a "holistic approach" by offering legal assistance, behavioral health support and financial counseling, the mayor said.
Jason Perkins-Cohen, director of the Mayor's Office of Employment Development, said Train Up will reach more than 1,600 residents.
"So if you're a resident, you're looking for work, you're looking for a better job, what this means to you is that you've got good, strong options to help you go to work in a job that offers the opportunity to provide for you and your family," he said.
The 17 grantees are: Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare, BioTechnical Institute of Maryland, Associated Builders and Contractors/Project JumpStart, Byte Back, Catholic Charities of Baltimore, Center for Urban Families, Civic Works, Equality Equation, Goodwill Industries, HOPE Inc., Jane Addams Resource Center, Maryland New Directions, NPower, Open Works, Per Scholas, UNITE HERE, and Vehicles for Change.
