According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Unemployment rates for both male and female veterans increased in 2020, reflecting the COVID-19 pandemic. The rate for male veterans was 6.5 percent, little different from the rate of 6.7 percent for female veterans.”
Keeping in mind the increase in unemployment among veterans and that July 25th was Hire a Vet Day—we would like to share two agencies within our Partner Network that provide education and employment opportunities for the military members, veterans and their families that make up our community.
Home Front Military Network is fortunate to work collaboratively with several, vetted partner agencies who also help with employment not to mention, childcare, benefits assistance, behavioral health and so much more.
To see the full list of HFMN’s partners go to https://homefrontmilitarynetwork.org/partners/
Goodwill of Colorado
Goodwill of Colorado provides career development and community programs and resources for more than 100,000 Coloradans with disadvantages each year—including military veterans, seniors, youth, and individuals with developmental and economic challenges. Through its thrift retail operations, donations, social enterprises, corporate partnerships and recycling processes, Goodwill has worked for more than a century in Colorado to ensure individuals have access to career and life pathways that allow them to live to their fullest potential and achieve their highest level of independence.
Goodwill offers both statewide and Colorado Springs/Pikes Peak regional programs and services for veterans. Their transitional employment program, ReHire Colorado, and Low-income Energy Assistance Program (LEAP) are both statewide services.
ReHire Colorado is a transitional employment program helping individuals with barriers to employment prepare for successful work through paid on-the-job training and experience—including case management, job coaching and career development.
For the Pikes Peak region, Goodwill offers services such as Goodwheels, Staffing Services, IT Career Training & Placement, Day Program for Seniors, and In-home Support Services.
Thanks to Goodwill’s LIFT (Learn, Improve, Focus, Thrive) IT training and certification program, you don’t have to attend college to secure a rewarding career and live your dream. Goodwill can help you become an A+ and Network+ certified IT Helpdesk Professional or enhance your IT career with a Security+ Certification and gain all the knowledge needed for successful accreditation from CompTIA.
LIFT’s certification and trainings focus on the fundamentals of security, networking, operating systems, troubleshooting and technical support. You can also learn foundation-level skills to install, operate, manage, maintain and troubleshoot a corporate network.
LIFT can even enhance the careers of established IT professionals with Security+ training. This sought-after course and credentials are targeted toward those in the IT industry who have networking and administrative skills in Windows-based TCP/IP networks and familiarity with other operating systems, such as OSX, Unix, Linux and want to further their career by acquiring a foundational knowledge of security topics.
Call 719.439.2796 to learn more.
Goodwill operates as a Colorado Health First-certified, In-Home Support Services agency, providing financial and other support to caregivers for loved ones with disabilities on Medicaid. Qualified caregivers can be paid up to 40 hours a week and receive free medical benefits!
Your loved one can choose you as their personal care provider—whether you are their spouse, relative, friend or another qualified individual. Discover Goodwill offers a salary of $12.41 an hour for nonskilled care tasks, and $17 an hour for skilled tasks. You may earn a combination of these hourly rates based on the type of care you are providing. Contact: (719) 243-1159
Each year, Goodwill’s life-changing programs and services support more than 100,000 Coloradans in need, contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to our economy through the power of work, train & mentor thousands of job seekers, provide community employment opportunities for thousands of individuals and assist over 200 residents with their daily living needs.
You can learn more about Goodwill’s programs, how to get involved through donating or volunteering and much more at https://goodwillcolorado.org/.
Pikes Peak Community College
PPCC has as many dreams here as they do students, and they come in every variety: high school grads, veterans, single moms, factory workers, artists, book worms and retirees from every race, ethnicity and age. This creates a supportive learning environment and a sense of belonging for those who want to build a better future while staying close to home and for travelers on their way from here to everywhere.
PPCC is the largest most diverse post-secondary educational institution in Southern Colorado and offers associate degrees, certifications in career and technical fields and three bachelors’ degrees. With three campuses, various off-campus locations, two military education centers, the Center for Healthcare Education and Simulation, and hundreds of online classes, PPCC provides access to a quality, affordable and flexible education to more than 20,000 students annually with both credit and non-credit classes.
PPCC is continually expanding their programs to address critical workforce needs. One example is the new Center for Healthcare Education & Simulation which houses classrooms for nursing and allied health programs and a state of the art, interdisciplinary simulation lab. This means PPCC can increase enrollment in nursing and allied health programs by 20–50% over the next three years.
Because PPCC offers more than 200 degrees and certificate programs, we have advisors and online tools to help students navigate their choices and help them turn their passions into something tangible, something extraordinary: a fulfilling and rewarding career.
The Military and Veterans Programs (MVP) is a department at PPCC dedicated to supporting our active duty, veterans and their family members. They are college employees as well as veterans, family members and civilians dedicated to providing you the best educational experience PPCC can offer.
MVP is your go-to source for assistance with: on-post, on-base compressed general education classes in eight-week and other shorter formats designed to fit the schedule of active-duty military; college application, enrollment and student portal training as well as general college information; academic advising on how to use your benefits to ensure benefit eligibility; evaluation of Active-Duty Military Training for College Credit (Prior Learning Assessment); tutoring and academic support through Veterans Upward Bound (VUB); community-based referrals for non-educational assistance; engagement in military- and veteran-related programming and events, including Veterans Day observations; membership in the Student Veterans Organization; military withdrawal from classes due to duty conflict; and discounted spouse tuition for classes taken on military sites (active-duty spouse must also be concurrently enrolled in on-site classes).
PPCC has a dedicated Military and Veterans Center of Excellence where their specialized advisors and counselors are trained in veterans’ issues. They can walk you through your VA Education benefits along with other military funding opportunities for both service members and families.
PPCC also provides full-service offices on-site that will help you with your application, advising, registration, placement testing and credit for prior learning in addition to helping with tuition assistance. Life can be complicated. That’s why PPCC offers maximum flexibility, with day, evening and weekend courses in traditional, online or hybrid formats.
PPCC offers several programs and services specific for military/veteran students, including work studies, the Military Arts Connection, Veterans Upward Bound, the Student Veterans Organization and more.
At Pikes Peak Community College, they offer more paths to success than Colorado offers mountain trails. To get a full picture of everything Pikes Peak Community College provides and what’s required for admissions, please visit https://www.ppcc.edu/.
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