Diversified Labor Solutions and Journey’s End Refugee Services Awarded $100,000 grant from the Regional Economic Development Council to improve light manufacturing skills for unemployed workers.
BUFFALO, NY – Diversified Labor Solutions, a division of Cantalician Center for Learning and Journey’s End Refugee Services has received a $100,000 Unemployed Worker Training Program Grant from the Regional Economic Development Council (REDC). The employment focused funding will be used to create a program that will focus on increasing English and manufacturing language skills for people from the refugee population across Western New York.
Diversified Labor Solutions (DLS) employs more than 100 people from the local refugee and immigrant community in light industrial manufacturing. DLS employees are also comprised of people with disabilities and people in need. Collectively, the labor force fills a crucial need for a dependable, adaptable, and experienced workers in the local business and manufacturing community. The light industrial business works with a list of manufacturing and distribution firms, including The Mentholatum Company, 3M OCelo, and Sonwil Industries. The new program will couple the work opportunity offered at DLS with the resources and support offered to the refugee community through Journey’s End.
“We are thrilled for this program to start as it will address the severe skills gap in the light industrial field across in Western New York, said Darren Lisicki, Director of Employment Services, Diversified Labor Solutions.” The new program will also boost the readiness of employees from the refugee population by addressing English language and manufacturing language barriers that are important in keeping workers gainfully employed and safe on the work floor. We believe this program will take hard working entry level employees and allow them to reemerge as skilled workers ready to take on additional responsibilities in the manufacturing sector.”
Journey’s End provides refugees with the support they need to become successful, active and contributing members of the Western New York Community. They offer an array of services to refugees resettled in the community, including Education Services, Employment Services, Immigration Legal Services, and Interpreting Services. The program will be hosted at the resettlement agency’s Tri-Main Center location and will help improve the skills of 30 people by enrolling them in a year-long class.
“We are excited to be offering the first refugee worker training program that pays participants to work while taking classes to increase their manufacturing skills and workplace English aptitude. At the conclusion of the course, successful graduates will be placed in manufacturing jobs at local Western New York employers. We believe the program will yield much success allowing us to extend past the grant to serve people on an on-going basis,” said Jacqueline Ashby, Director of Education, Journey’s End Refugee Services.”
For more information about Diversified Labor Solutions visit dlswny.com. For more information about Journey’s
End Refugee Services visit jersbuffalo.org.