Employment Security awards funds for volunteer projects to aid Walla Walla students - September 27, 2007
07-076
Media contacts:
Caitlin Cormier,
360-902-9215
Terri Barbee,
360-438-4145
Audio: http://fortress.wa.gov/esd/portal/info/newsroom/audiofiles/audio/
OLYMPIA – The state Employment Security Department has awarded $70,000 to the Blue Mountain Action Council to help students who are having trouble learning to read. The group also is involved in finding mentors for children with incarcerated parents and recruiting health-care workers in southeastern Washington.
The funding comes from the federal AmeriCorps and Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) programs. Employment Security distributes the money to local communities to cover operating costs and provide stipends to Washington Service Corps members, who will spend 10½ months working on public-service projects, such as tutoring students, building affordable housing, improving emergency readiness, and rehabilitating streams and trails.
Nearly $2 million is being distributed to school districts, counties, learning centers, housing authorities and non-profit groups in 23 of Washington’s 39 counties across the state to provide an array of educational, human and public-improvement services from September 2007 through August 2008.
“The grants make it possible for our Service Corps members and the groups they work with to do a lot of good in schools and neighborhoods around the state,” said Karen Lee, commissioner of the Employment Security Department. “These programs have a lasting and enriching effect on the people who participate.”
Created by the state legislature in 1983 and administered by the Employment Security Department, the Washington Service Corps engages the talents, energy and enthusiasm of civically minded adults, aged 17 and up, in serving their communities.
For more information about Washington Service Corps programs and the teams that received the grants, visit http://www.wa.gov/esd/wsc/ and look on the left side of the page.
