Search Results for Baltimore City

KRA/Baltimore City Customers Train for Self-Employment

January 14, 2022 | No Comments

The Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program, operated for the BCDSS, includes a mandatory 3-month Work Experience (WEX) Program Internship. The Druid Heights Community Development Corporation (DHCDC) has been a valued WEX-site for several years, recently providing workplace-readiness internships for seven KRA customers. Since all of the WEX participants had expressed interest in developing their own businesses, Azalee Fisher, DHCDC Community Outreach Director, offered them the opportunity to enroll in an Entrepreneurial Training Program founded by Dr. Lela Campbell, and directed by Katrina Leonard, both from the Workforce Development Center of A Step Forward Inc. Several small-business development specialists
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KRA Baltimore City Office Reopens Fully to Public

August 13, 2021 | No Comments

March 2020…Mandated COVID-19 restrictions forced KRA to close all its offices, which included the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program that transitioned staff to a work-from-home status, and transferred individual- and group-participation activities to effective remote- and virtual-service venues. July 2020…As certain restrictions eased, KRA opened the Baltimore City office—in compliance with CDC Guidance—to individual customers, by appointment only. In addition, we continued to provide remote-learning and virtual services for individuals and groups, as appropriate. July 2021…KRA/Baltimore City staff met the “first day back” challenge with organization and flexibility. Pre-arranged scheduling allowed adequate time to welcome each customer, and
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KRA/Baltimore City Customer’s Career Path Paved with Green

July 16, 2021 | No Comments

Mr. Torre Lewis, 27, applied for TANF-TCA benefits through the Baltimore City Department of Social Services (BCDSS), which required him to enroll in KRA’s Job Readiness Program—a critical component of the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program—prior to occupational-skills training (OST) and/or job-placement. One such OST opportunity is the KRA Knowledge2Career Construction Academy (K2C-CA) co-funded by the BCDSS for TCA customers and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development for WIOA-eligible Youth jobseekers. KRA is a licensed provider-partner of the Home Builders Institute’s award-winning PACT (Pre-Apprenticeship Certificate Training) Program, compliant with National Construction Skill Standards, as well as National Association of Home Builders
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KRA/Baltimore City Maximizes Google Platform to Serve Customers

June 18, 2021 | No Comments

KRA customers enrolled in the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program, operated for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, are required to complete KRA’s Job Readiness Program (JRP) prior to occupational-skills training and/or job-placement opportunities. Prior to March 2020, JRP workshops were conducted in person, classroom-style—not a suitable venue with the onset of pandemic-related physical-distancing requirements. However, KRA/Baltimore City remained responsible for providing JRP workshops—critical to successful career-development planning—that focus on workplace-readiness skills, e.g. resume-building, interviewing, and dressing for success and soft-skills development, e.g. worksite communications and problem-solving. Inspired by the Baltimore City School System’s virtual-learning program, Alyssa
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KRA/Baltimore City Hires WEX Program Participant

March 19, 2021 | No Comments

Christine Washington, in need of fulltime sustainable employment, enrolled in the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program, operated by KRA for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services. Participation included KRA’s Job Readiness Program, an integral component of which is an unpaid Work Experience (WEX) Program Internship for customers with little, no, and/or outdated work-experience histories. Ms. Washington, who was working two part-time jobs to support herself and two young sons, learned that KRA had an open WEX Housekeeping Internship, and asked to be considered for the position. Shawnda Walker, Lead Job Developer/WEX Program Supervisor, stated, “All Internships, even
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KRA Baltimore City Overcomes Physical Barriers to Service During Pandemic

February 9, 2021 | No Comments

KRA operates the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services for a revolving caseload of approximately 400 customers. Last month, in addition to having already uploaded Workforce Readiness Workshops in May 2020, for customers to access through Google Classroom, KRA began offering a Virtual Soft Skills Training Program, since traditional classroom settings, for large groups, are not feasible due to physical-distancing restrictions in Maryland. Greg Alexander, Program Manager, states, “Using Zoom allows many customers to attend ‘live’ classes that are engaging, interactive, and most of all safe, from their computers, mobile phones,
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KRA/Baltimore Receives Business Partnership Accolade

November 9, 2015 | No Comments

In January 2014, the Baltimore Horseshoe Casino announced it was launching a citywide outreach effort to fill 1,700 jobs for a new $442-million entertainment complex. According to Ernestine Chambers, Operations Manager for the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program, “Casino staff-hiring and -replacement is a continuous industry challenge, with some establishments reporting turnover rates as high as 80 percent!” However, statistics indicate that pre-hire, work-readiness programs, such as the Horseshoe Legendary Academy, reduce turnover significantly, e.g., since the August 2014 Grand Opening, 53 percent–964–of the original Academy graduates are still on-the-job!” From the beginning of the outreach program, KRA/Baltimore–operated for the Baltimore
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KRA/Baltimore Recruits Talent at Local Job Fair

August 31, 2015 | No Comments

Recently, it was reported that Ernestine Chambers, Operations Manager, and Jermietra Carroll, Business Services Representative (BSR), with the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program–operated by KRA for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services–had attended a church-sponsored Job Fair. Jermietra reported, “One goal for attending the Fair was to meet with representatives of local agencies, businesses, and organizations to identify potential resources for our volunteer CWE Program, as well as paid job-placement opportunities. Secondly, we intended to recruit candidates for an open position on our BSR team.” Missions accomplished! Not only has KRA/Baltimore developed several strong Community Work Experience partnerships for the program, they interviewed three qualified BSR
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KRA Attends JARC/BTTC Launch With Baltimore Mayor

July 20, 2015 | No Comments

In mid-June, we reported on a new partnership developed by the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program for jobseekers receiving TANF benefits, KRA-operated for the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, with the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC). Ernestine Chambers, Operations Manager, reports, “Recently, with Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake cutting the ceremonial ribbon, customers and staff from KRA/Baltimore, and other JARC partners, celebrated the official opening of the Baltimore Technical Training Center (BTTC), specializing in job-skills development for the Advanced Manufacturing industry. Actually, the event was a kind of re-launch. In October 2005, an international Canadian-based company opened the Magna Baltimore Technical Training Center in the then-vacant Park Heights
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Another Successful Partnership Venture for KRA/Baltimore

June 14, 2015 | No Comments

For the Baltimore City Department of Social Services, KRA operates the Work Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program for jobseekers receiving TANF benefits, actively collaborating with local agencies and organizations to create training and employment opportunities for KRA/Baltimore customers. In March, KRA/Baltimore developed a partnership with the Jane Addams Resource Corporation (JARC), founded in 1985 as an economic development agency in the Ravenswood Industrial Corridor, with initial efforts dedicated to developing and operating commercial buildings for industrial use. Today, JARC operates the Center for Working Families, which specializes in job-training and certification programs that target skill-gap positions in the Manufacturing and IT
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