(Washington, DC) - Congresswoman Corrine Brown participated in a conference call this morning with the Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, to announce a $2.2 million grant that was awarded to Florida State College of Jacksonville. "Training people who are unemployed and have limited job skills and experience is a vital part of creating employment opportunities with the federal stimulus program," said Congresswoman Brown.  "I am certain that the key area partners involved, that include The Community Rehabilitation Center (CRC) of Jacksonville, the Regional Workforce Investment Board, the Northwest Support Services, Youth Works, Northeast Florida Community Action Agency, the Northeast Florida Builders Association and KD Merick and Co, will work tirelessly to provide services to Jacksonville residents struggling to find work," the Congresswoman continued.

Essentially, the purpose of the Labor Department's "Pathways out of Poverty" grants is to assist individuals living below or near the poverty level to find employment.  The grants provide funding to integrate training and support services into programs that will help targeted populations find ways out of poverty and into economic self-sufficiency through employment in energy efficiency and renewable energy industries.  They seek to accomplish this by:

Integrating basic skills and work readiness training with occupational skills training; combining supportive services with training services to help participants overcome barriers to employment, and by providing training services at times and locations easily accessible to targeted populations.

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