On Saturday, October 29, 2011, the Imani Community Development Corporation (ICDC) and the Greater Richmond Urban League will be sponsoring a Meet & Greet Workforce Resource Fair. The KRA/RESOURCE Workforce Center (RWC) Program will serve as co-host for the event, which is the brain child of Lydia Brown, KRA Career Agent, who’s been planning the agenda for the past several months. In addition to several other dignitaries, Richmond Mayor Dwight Jones and Councilwoman Ellen Robertson have agreed to attend and welcome the participants.
When asked how the idea for the community-outreach event came to be, Ms. Brown stated, “Sonji Rollins Tucker, who is the WIB Treasurer and the Executive Director of the ICDC, heard me talking, at a Ministry Event, about the workforce development programs that KRA/RWC offers to residents of the Greater Richmond area. After hearing my conversation, Ms. Tucker told me that many residents of the Hull Street Community…an integral part of which is the Imani Mews Apartments, which my church established and which operates under the auspices of the ICDC…would benefit greatly from KRA/RWC educational, training, and job placement resources.” Thinking quickly, she suggested, and Ms. Tucker agreed, that a “Meet & Greet” would be an excellent venue for introducing KRA/RWC to the community. Ms. Tucker pledged the support of the ICDC, and suggested that she contact Thomas Victory, President & CEO of the Greater Richmond Urban League, to discuss co-hosting the event. The sphere of influence and impeccable reputations of these two prestigious Richmond organizations would certainly ensure a successful event. The call to Mr. Victory was successful, and on August 25, 2011, he attended a meeting with Ms. Brown; Ms. Tucker; Marilyn Stroud, Adult and Dislocated Worker Program Manager for the RESOURCE Capital Region Workforce Partnership; Milton Vice, President of the Hull Street Association; and Gary Fletcher, Director of the three KRA/RWC site operations…and an agreement was reached that plans for the Meet & Greet should move forward!
KRA/RWC is pleased that several Partners and Training Providers have agreed to attend, including representatives from Asher Comprehensive Training Center, Inc.; CDS Truck Driving School; John Tyler Community College; Offender Aid and Restoration of Richmond, Inc.; River City Comprehensive Counseling Service; Senior Connections; and Summit Construction and Environmental Services. In addition to Mayor Jones; Councilwoman Robertson; Ms. Tucker; Mr. Vice; and Mr. Victory, Jamison Manion, City of Richmond Workforce Director, is expected to attend.
Mr. Fletcher, who will be presenting at the Meet & Greet with Ms. Brown and other KRA/RWC Career Agents, said: “It has been a part of our strategy to outreach to our communities and to those individuals who cannot get to us. This event is one of many I hope we will put on throughout the year. I want to personally thank Lydia Brown and Sonji Tucker for their hard work in planning this event.”
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
