Catholic Charities Employment Center, a new employment training program, will host an open house on Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 2848 W. Lafayette Avenue in West Baltimore from 10 a.m. until noon. The employment center is operated by Our Daily Bread Employment Center and located at St. Edward Church, and it will provide training for West Baltimore residents interested in careers as automotive technicians and general service technicians.
The program was launched on January 5, 2016 at St. Edward Church in one of the areas that was most affected the unrest in April 2015 and is also the site of a food pantry that is operated jointly by the parish and Catholic Charities.
Thirteen people are enrolled in the first class, which provides a combination of classroom and hands-on training. Classes continue for 12 weeks, after which participants receive formal certification. New classes will begin every three months.
The employment center is a partnership between Catholic Charities, the National Center on Institutions and Alternatives (NCIA) and the One Baltimore for Jobs (1B4J) initiative and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Labor.
“We are excited to have the opportunity to work with residents in West Baltimore, and to provide training that will help lead them to employment and greater stability,” said Penny Lewis, director of Our Daily Bread Employment Center. “This is a creative way to help communities in Baltimore that are afflicted with high unemployment and poverty rates.”
Inspired by the Gospel mandates to love, serve and teach, the more than 80 programs of Catholic Charities improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Marylanders each year. Catholic Charities continues a legacy of charity and compassion that began with the establishment of the Catholic Church in Baltimore in 1792. Catholic Charities was named a 2015 Baltimore Sun Top Workplace, ranked among the top 10 largest employers in the Baltimore region.
For more information, visit: www.catholiccharities-md.org.