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Job training, adult scholarships available for City of Detroit residents
Mayor Mike Duggan addressed the city with a plan for Detroiters trained for fulfilling careers Monday.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - Mayor Mike Duggan addressed the city with a plan for Detroiters trained for fulfilling careers Monday.
The mayor decided the best way to use the funding from the American Rescue Act -- is by investing in the people of the city.
"That was a big deal," said Octavia Dunn. "That was one of the proudest moments to walk across the stage, with my kids in the audience - so thank you.."
Dunn spoke about the difficult moments in her life in a packed meeting on job training and access, hosted by Duggan at the Coleman A Young Municipal Center.
"I dropped out of high school in 2004. I wound up getting pregnant, I went to Redford High School," she said. "On top of being pregnant, my daughter's father got killed. So, it was hard. I made many attempts to go back to school, and just didn’t do it."
That was, until she got connected with the city’s Learn to Earn program working her way to a diploma and a job.
She’s one of many endorsing Duggan’s announcement of a $100 million scholarship program to get more Detroit residents ready for, and connected to more jobs.
"We wanted to have a city where every person who wanted a good paying job could get one, and the jobs in Detroit went to Detroiters," Duggan said.
The initiative was backed by President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, will pay residents to study and train for the work they want.
In fact, the mayor says right now there are nearly 9,000 jobs up for grabs across the city, and half of them do not require a college degree.
Some programs pay $10 an hour to learn basic reading and math skills, and/or get a high school diploma or GED.
"You can start this month and make $200 a week learning to read," Duggan said.
Some of the training allows city residents to earn $15 an hour for three days of on-site work and two days of in-classroom training per week, to get qualified for careers ranging from health care, IT, the skilled trades, trucking, and more.
But there were some residents in this meeting who say this plan sounds great, but so far they’ve been left behind by the City. In fact one woman told the mayor that directly, pouring her heart out.
"I have a great nephew that has been applying for these jobs for six months, and the man never emailed back. My nephew graduated from high school, he can read clearly," she said.
The mayor took the heat, but promised a quick fix.
"So here’s what we’re going to do. He’s not going to have to come to us," Duggan said. "Tomorrow we are going to go out and see him. And we’re going to get him signed up."
To learn more, go to the website to Detroit at Work HERE.