Workforce Development
Inadequate education, domestic violence, health conditions and lack of transportation are all barriers to successful employment and economic independence. The YMCA Alliance has helped Chicago-area residents overcome these barriers and succeed in the job market for more than 30 years by supplying skills and information necessary to landing and keeping a job.
The YMCA Alliance prepares people for the work force by providing educational, entrepreneurial and workforce training and support. Services are obtained at the YMCA’s downtown office and at the Austin center.
Participants get vocational training, increase their self-esteem and gain financial independence. The Workforce Development programs currently serve 1,000 adults ages 18 to 65. The average job placement rate for Y Alliance graduates is 75 percent, with 82 percent of those placed remaining at the job after 90 days.
Twenty employees work to provide guidance to participants and 100 corporate volunteers help with special projects such as work clothes drives, financial literary workshops, resume writing and mock interviews.
We offer:
- GED preparation classes
- Vocational training
- Career planning
- Job placement assistance
Those served include:
- First-time workers
- Dislocated workers
- Single parents
- Homeless persons
- Others needing support to re-enter the workforce
For more information, please call the YMCA Alliance at 312.913.2150
Community partners include the Chicago Christian Industrial League, Chicago Department of Community Development, Greater West Town Community Development Project, Illinois Department of Human Services, Illinois Department of Employment Security and YMCA SRO Housing.
The workforce development programs are funded by, Bank of America Foundation, Chicago Department of Community Development, Illinois Community College Board, Illinois Department of Human Services and individual donors.
Click here for the YMCA Alliance Fact Sheet