Our work and relationships in diverse neighborhoods has been revealing deep uncertainty among residents around employment and health care. For many, economic uncertainty and instability are the largest barriers to their engagement in community life.
IMPACT’s response to this reality is a variety of programs and supportive gatherings for residents of diverse races, cultures, and even income levels to become economically empowered.
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Opportunities in the Long Branch and Wheaton networks include:
- Mutual support circles: Weekly gatherings for struggling residents to support each other in addressing immediate employment and social service needs, promoting information exchange and referrals.
- Empowerment circles: Groups of residents, typically living in one apartment complex, who meet over the course of 2-4 months for skill-building in ESOL, computer/technology use in the workplace, and job-seeking. Residents define their highest-priority needs and organize to address them.
- Workforce development: Cohorts of residents who build specific career skills in education, health care, property management, and microenterprise. These include:
- Parent Educators: Over 9 months, diverse parents learn skills to become teaching assistants and then work in an after-school literacy program in Montgomery County Public Schools. Parents build enduring partnerships with lead teachers and strengthen their relationship to the school. They also take part in bi-weekly trainings in personal empowerment and workforce skills.
- Workforce Circle: This new program supports industry-specific workforce development, either in health care or property management. Content experts from Montgomery College, as well as large employers in the neighborhood, are participating to provide training and on-the-job experience, increasing residents’ likelihood of hire and facilitating their transition from one sector to another.
- Microenterprise Circle: Meeting weekly over three months, residents learn how to leverage their talents and former experience to launch stable microbusinesses for side income. The circle helps them explore the benefits of developing cooperatives.
