The $25,000 Wells Fargo Economic Opportunity Grant supported RAIS to provide job readiness classes for over 150 clients, place 111 clients in employment & develop 3 job training programs that have already served more than 60 clients and will train dozens more in future years.
The first job training program that was developed and offered was a two-week class in Culinary Arts. This class covered basic kitchen and food vocabulary, a discussion of food service job duties and career paths, food safety techniques, practical application of kitchen skills, conversations with current food service workers and an overview of American work etiquette. It is a total of 6 classes, with the last class being a field trip to the industrial teaching kitchen at the King Career Center. Graduates of the Culinary Arts job training participated in a Mock Restaurant at our Welcome Center where they practiced the skills they had learned throughout the session.
Next RAIS developed & offered a child care job training program. Which consisted of a two-week class covering related vocabulary, child safety, daycare job duties and age-based class structure, diapering, SIDS, child abuse and neglect, tracking and recording a child’s progress, and an overview of American work etiquette.
Finally, with this grant, RAIS developed a two-week class that prepares clients for working in housekeeping. Topics of the class covered hotel vocabulary, interacting with guests, doing inventory on housekeeping carts and in guest rooms, a discussion with a housekeeping manager and current housekeeper, a practical application of housekeeping skills, and an overview of American work etiquette.
This grant changed the lives of RAIS clients and helped them on their paths to self-sufficiency!
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