DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ALLOCATES $3 MILLION TO NCLR GREEN JOBS INITIATIVE

Washington, DC-NCLR (National Council of La Raza), the largest national Latino civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States, applauds the U.S. Department of Labor for investing in employment training programs in high-need communities. U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis announced today that the Department of Labor will award $150 million in grants that will in part be directed to Latino communities. The NCLR Pathways Out of Poverty Project will receive $3 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 to work with community-based Affiliates to operate green career pathways programs in Chicago and California communities plagued by unemployment.

"We are excited about the opportunities that this grant will allow NCLR's Affiliates to provide to some of our nation's hardest-hit neighborhoods," said NCLR President and CEO Janet Murguía. "We thank Secretary Solis and the Department of Labor and look forward to building on our track record of effective workforce development programs and enabling Latinos to find good-quality jobs that help them lift their families out of poverty."

NCLR will work with the Center for Training and Careers, serving the Burbank and Seven Trees communities of San Jose, California; the MAAC Project, serving the Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, and Memorial neighborhoods of San Diego, California; and Instituto del Progreso Latino, serving the Pilsen, Little Village, and Back of the Yards neighborhoods of Chicago, Illinois. Through these collaborations, job training will lead to the much-needed energy jobs that will be the foundation for rebuilding the economy.

The grant is an important step on the path to economic recovery because it prioritizes high-need communities. Rising unemployment continues to lead to increasing levels of foreclosure in minority communities, hindering the nation's economic recovery. The unemployment rate in December was 16.2% for Blacks and 12.9% for Latinos, compared to 10% nationwide. In addition, Latinos are overrepresented in high-unemployment occupations.

Preparing workers for the jobs of the future now, when joblessness has claimed many communities, is essential to narrowing the employment gap between minority and nonminority workers. These important investments must be accompanied by a bold strategy to create jobs in communities of color. Doing so will mean the difference between a strong economic recovery and a jobless tomorrow.

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