County Legislature recognizes Job Corps on 60th anniversary
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – The Orleans County Legislature shared a proclamation on July 30 in honor of the 60th anniversary of the Iroquois Job Corps.
Pictured from left include Luke Kantor (Admissions and Career Transition Services manager for the Iroquois Job Corps), Deshawn Knights, Logan Abeyta, Unique Weeks, Janissa Legister, County Legislator Fred Miller and Job Corps operations director JT Thomas.
The proclamation states that Job Corps has been an integral part of the employment and training system for young adults aged 16-24 throughout the United States, an essential partner in Orleans County, and the nation’s largest residential training organization with over 120 campuses.
The Iroquois Job Corps Center in Shelby has helped to train and launch the careers of young adults from Orleans County and the Northeast Boston Region 1 of Job Corps to help them earn essential, field-leading credentials in a vocational trade that will allow them to then obtain gainful employment to better themselves, legislators said.
Job Corps was launched as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Economic Opportunity Act in 1964. Job Corps has provided opportunities for individual advancement for over 3 million young Americans, the proclamation states.
“The program is rooted in a culture of support and compassion that emphasizes hard work, education, and training to serve local communities connecting with local businesses, unions, and employers to ensure that today’s youth are equipped with the necessary tools to build the future of tomorrow,” legislators said.
The program also teaches life skills that assist young adults to be successfully well-rounded individuals to obtain and hold careers and assist with breaking cycles of generational poverty, the proclamation states.
“Job Corps provides student graduates with transitional support services, such as job hunting, finding stable housing, child care, transportation, and drivers education programs as they enter the local workforce, join apprenticeship/training programs, pursue higher education at a college, and/or enlist in the military,” according to the proclamation.
