UWM Receives Education Grant to Help Unemployed

MILWAUKEE -The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has received a federal grant to establish an Educational Opportunity Center (EOC) to serve unemployed, underemployed and unemployable workers.

UWM will use the $190,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education to establish four outreach sites to help these workers improve their employability. The grant is renewable for five years. The EOCs are part of the Department of Education's TRIO outreach programs designed to motivate and support students from disadvantaged backgrounds in continuing their education.

The centers would provide admission and financial aid application assistance to workers who are ready to start or re-enter college, and would give unemployed, underemployed and unemployable workers access to technology and help them develop computer literacy.

UWM will partner with Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC), UMOS (United Migrant Opportunity Centers), OIC (Opportunities Industrialization Center) and the Benedict Center to promote the program, recruit participants and operate the sites.

"Education is the single most important factor in the elimination of poverty, unemployment and crime in neighborhoods and communities," says Gary Williams, assistant to the vice chancellor in Student and Multicultural Affairs. William's office will administer the EOC centers.

Poverty and unemployment levels in Milwaukee County have soared over the past two decades as manufacturing industries declined and companies moved to the suburbs and beyond, says Williams. In comparison with the four-county Greater Milwaukee Metropolitan Area, Milwaukee County has an average of 33 times the number of people living in poverty, says Williams. Young people (under age 25) in Milwaukee County are 10 times less likely to have a college degree than young people outside the county, he adds. "The statistics for the City of Milwaukee and its inner city are even more devastating," says Williams.

The program will target welfare recipients, job seekers, ex-offenders, veterans, college and high school dropouts, high school graduates, and students currently enrolled in GED/high school and post-secondary programs, says Williams. The program targets adults rather than high school students, who are already served by other job training programs such as those offered through PIC (the Private Industry Council).

The EOCs will offer a broad range of programs and workshops to help the unemployed improve their education. The centers will offer classes in basic skills, parenting, academic preparation; workshops to help potential students prepare for college entrance exams; tutoring and mentoring programs and visits to campuses. The centers will serve 1,000 adults age 19 and older.

UWM is the only college in Wisconsin to offer all of the Department of Education's TRIO programs, which include Gear-Up, Upward Bound, Upward Bound-Math/Science, Upward Bound for Veterans and Talent Search as well as the EOC.

"This grant helps support UWM's commitment to its urban mission. We are working with other community organizations to educate people and help them overcome unemployment and underemployment," says Williams.

###

Return to News Index