| Our Role | Congregation-Based Organizing | Rural Grassroots Organizing | Workforce Constituency Development RCI’s
third programmatic area is aimed at developing what we call “workforce
constituencies” composed of new partnerships among communities and
institutions that can increase workforce readiness, create good jobs,
and maximize community benefits from economic development. The San
Joaquin Valley consistently faces high unemployment rates due to its
substantial population of under-qualified workers and the resulting
inability to create or attract living-wage jobs that require a more
educated and skilled workforce. In addition, many of our communities do
not have the capacity to translate economic development investment into
a sustainable process of human and community development. In
collaboration with labor, government, community, and business
interests, RCI is working to prepare people for employment through a
partnership funded by the Fresno Regional Workforce Investment Board. RCI
is also a founding partner of the Valley Economic Leadership Institute,
which is committed to a fair regional economy based on a collaborative,
accountable approach to economic development in the Valley. Following
are some of the activities and accomplishments for the past 12 months: - Partnered
with the Fresno, Madera, Tulare, Kings Counties Central Labor Council
and ProPath, Inc. in a 5-year contract, to operate three one-stop job centers in
rural Kerman, Mendota and Reedley on July 1, 2003 with a target of 660 job
placements in the first program year ending June 2004; The Partnership
successfully applied for and was awarded a second 5-year contract to operate
the Urban North one-stop center in Fresno on July 1, 2008. The site
doubled operations through funding from the American Recovery Reinvestment
Act (ARRA) from 2009 through 2011.
- In
partnership with the Central Labor Council and U.C. Berkeley, applied
for and received an OSHA grant to provide training on workplace
violence prevention for businesses throughout the Valley;
- Entered
into a formal agreement with the San Joaquin Valley Federal Interagency
Task Force to be the community organizing partner for a Central Valley
Initiative aimed at economic, community, workforce and civic leadership
development in rural communities in the west side of the Valley;
- Established
a formal relationship with the California Partnership for Working
Families to begin building local capacities for producing measurable
community benefits from economic development;
- Partnered
with faculty from the College of Social Sciences at CSU Fresno to begin
the development of culturally competent curricula for economic, social,
and environmental literacy that can be used for building community
leadership and organization.
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