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Mayor Janey announces $2.7m in Neighborhood Jobs Trust funding to support training and educations programs for Boston residents

Nov 01, 2021

Mayor Kim Janey, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, and the Boston Planning & Development Agency (BPDA) today announced the disbursement of $2.7 million in Neighborhood Jobs Trust (NJT) funds to 30 community-based organizations that provide job training, education, and support services to Boston residents. Bolstered by the strength of Boston’s commercial development market, $2.7 million is the largest NJT disbursement in at least 15 years and is expected to help grantees leverage an additional $7.7 million in funds. The 30 community-based organizations will serve an estimated 3,200 low- and middle-income residents seeking employment in sectors impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including technology, culinary, healthcare, and human services. 

“Now, more than ever, workers are seeking higher paying jobs and quality employment,” said Mayor Janey. “This historic disbursement of Neighborhood Jobs Trust funds will enable residents to acquire the skills they need to position themselves for better opportunities.  The City’s employers are in great need of their skills, and we are grateful to the 30 job training programs that answered the call to build a stronger workforce.”
 
“The  building boom that Boston has experienced in the last several years has resulted in millions of dollars in linkage funding to support needed workforce training programs for Boston’s residents,” said BPDA Director Brian Golden. “The 30 organizations awarded in this round of funding will strengthen our local economy by supporting thousands of Boston residents in finding quality, high-paying jobs.” 

The Neighborhood Jobs Trust is a public charitable trust replenished by linkage fees from developers of large-scale commercial projects in Boston. Since 2014, new development approved by the BPDA has generated over $80 million in linkage fees to support affordable housing and workforce training. Earlier this year, the BPDA approved a 42 percent increase in linkage fees in Boston. The increase raised the fees to $15.39 per square foot, of which $13.00 is dedicated to affordable housing and $2.39 is dedicated to workforce training. 
 
The NJT grant recipients were selected through an open Request for Proposals (RFP) process administered by the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD). The RFP, released in June 2021, garnered 37 proposals, which were evaluated by a team of OWD staff and outside experts. 
 
Among this year’s grantees are three organizations receiving first-time NJT funding: Haitian Multi-Service Center, which will offer English instruction and job training in healthcare and human services; X-Cel Education, which will train young adults for careers in water management and conservation; and Immigrant Family Services Institute, which will provide English instruction and training for the medical assisting, culinary, or retail sectors.

“The immigrant community in Boston faces extreme hardship and challenges, which are only deepened by the impacts of COVID-19,” said Dr. Geralde Gabeau, executive director of the Immigrant Family Services Institute. “We are so grateful to partner with the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development to provide career and job opportunities to our clients who have been impacted so greatly by COVID-19." 
 
Many previously funded organizations, including Resilient Coders which provides training to young people of color for careers in software development, were also selected for grants again this year based on the strength of their ability to deliver strong outcomes for trainees. 

“Every day of the Resilient Coders bootcamp, my fingers were on the keyboard to apply new programming concepts that I had learned,” said Anvy Tran, a 2021 graduate who is now a software engineer at Audible. “The skills, confidence, and community that I have gained from Resilient Coders have given me the ability to pursue career opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to me."
 
The full list of Fiscal Year 2022 NJT grant recipients can be found below.
 
 
Organization Grant Amount Programming
1199 SEIU Training and Upgrading Fund $160,500 The Training and Upgrade Fund will train residents – primarily already working as home care providers – to obtain Certified Nursing Assistant licensure.
Action for Boston Community Development $78,000 ABCD's First Steps into Early Childhood Education Careers program prepares low-income Boston residents for high-demand jobs in Early Education and Care.
Apprenti $100,000 Four cohorts will complete Apprenti’s tech apprenticeships as software analyst, IT Business analyst and Cybersecurity analyst.
Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology $104,520 Students will complete HVAC technician training.
BEST Hospitality Training $122,879 BEST will retrain laid-off hospitality workers for new careers in environmental services with local hospitals and healthcare employers.
Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center $95,000 ESOL for Customer Service prepares students for positions with retail and hospitality employers while improving English language ability.
Bunker Hill Community College $75,000
 		 The college will provide ESOL and occupational skills training focused on jobs within the restaurant industry. Trainees will include ESOL students from BHCC's existing programs, and individuals with intellectual and/or emotional differences/abilities.
Charlestown Adult Education $121,536 This facilities maintenance training program will prepare residents of Charlestown BHA housing for jobs within the rebuilt housing development currently underway.
Community Servings $100,000 The Teaching Kitchen provides culinary skills training, with placements into Community Serving’s own commissary kitchen.
English for New Bostonians $200,000 The Immigrant Futures in the Food Industry program will support neighborhood-based ESOL programs to deliver a curriculum focused on occupational skills and job opportunities in food production/manufacturing.
Fenway Community Development Corporation $65,442 Fenway CDC will recruit 20 individuals from the Fenway neighborhood for training in IT, information security and cybersecurity with Cambridge College. Fenway CDC will provide job readiness and make educational placement referrals.
Haitian Multi-Service Center (Catholic Charities) $80,773 The program will serve individuals with ESOL instruction focused on obtaining the job skills and language skills necessary for careers in the healthcare/human services sector.
Immigrant Family Services Institute $75,000 IFSI will enroll students (primarily Haitian immigrants) into ESOL classes followed by occupational skills training. Students will be able to choose from such pathways as medical assisting, culinary, and retail.
International Institute of New England $90,000 IINE is partnering with Winn Companies to offer a maintenance technician training program to recently arrived immigrants and refugees.
Jewish Vocational Services $60,000 Two cohorts will complete Pharmacy Technician training focusing on job placements with hospital employers.
More Than Words $70,000 MTW will engage youth ages 18-24 in subsidized employment (a social enterprise/youth run bookstore) before transitioning to unsubsidized employment and ongoing career development support.
Morgan Memorial Goodwill $65,000 The Human Services Employment Ladder Program (HELP) equips students with job readiness and occupational skills training for positions with human service agencies.
Mothers for Justice and Equality $40,000 This transitional employment program teaches job readiness skills to low-income residents of Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan. The program includes a paid internship opportunity and supports ongoing placements in either further training or jobs.
Mujeres Unidas Avanzando $80,000 MUA will serve  low-income women who are English Language Learners with training to become Certified Medical Assistants.
New England Culinary Arts Training $44,361 NECAT provides a 12-week culinary skills training to prepare residents - including returning citizens, people experiencing homelessness individuals in substance dependence recovery - for careers in restaurant and hotel kitchens.
Newmarket Business Association $98,000 Individuals will be trained for CDL Class B driver's licenses, and placed into employment with local businesses.
Operation ABLE $80,000 Mature (age 55+) workers will receive training as Medical Office Administrators with partnerships with local hospitals.
Per Scholas $92,000 Students will receive training in a variety of tech roles including IT support, Cloud Practitioner and Software Engineer.
Project Hope $50,000 Project Hope prepares students (primarily low-income mothers) for administrative positions at local healthcare employers.
Project Place $112,957 The Logistics Enterprise Apprenticeship Program (LEAP) is a registered pre-apprenticeship preparing students for positions in warehouse and shipping companies. The program will serve individuals who are formerly homeless, returning from incarceration and in recovery.
Resilient Coders $161,476 This stipended coding bootcamp prepares young (18-30 year old) Boston residents of color for careers as full stack developers.
St Mary’s Center for Women and Children $80,000 Women@Work is a job readiness and occupational skills training program which prepares students for jobs as Medical Office Administrators.
Tech Goes Home (TGH) $77,499 TGH will partner with a variety of occupational skills training programs to integrate digital literacy skills training into their programming.
X-Cel Education $60,177 Students will be certified as Wastewater Treatment Plant Operators.
YMCA Training Inc $80,000 This occupational skills training program will prepare students for jobs as administrative assistants and medical office administrators.
Total $2,720,120   
 

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