The Southwest Center for the developmentally disabled provides a wide variety of community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Each service is geared towards helping each person to live, work, and enjoy life in their community. The Southwest Center was founded in response to the growing need for programs and employment opportunities for adults with disabilities. Since that time, we have grown to provide a wide variety of community-based services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Each service is geared towards helping each person to live, work, and enjoy life in his or her community.
Kentucky VALLO: Veterans Accelerated Learning for Licensed Occupations (VALLO) is one of the first initiatives of its kind in the United States. Made possible by a 2018 Department of Labor award to Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation, VALLO works to ease transitions for military service members by overcoming burdensome disconnects between military training and civilian licensure requirements. Our goal has been to give service members credit for their education and experience obtained in the military so that they may be quickly licensed and employed within Kentucky.
With an identified 35 disciplines, the VALLO team has worked diligently to accelerate pathways to occupational licensure, bridge coursework/degree curriculum, and impact state legislation to benefit veteran employment and licensure mobility. See the available programs here!
The Opportunity Network was created to bring criminal justice system decision-makers together with users and providers of services and supports to improve outcomes and remove barriers to successful reentry for justice-involved youths and adults. The Opportunity Network will drive changes in practice, policy, and legislation at the local and state level, with an overall goal of building a healthy, vibrant community that works to achieve successful reentry and eliminating barriers to reentry by advocating for effective policies and practices connecting Kentucky communities.
For more information, contact Tyler Dennison at [email protected] or 502-574-5116.
Teach Kentucky launches the education careers of ambitious college graduates in Louisville, Kentucky’s public schools. The organization has grown from bringing two teacher candidates in its first year to annually bringing a new 40-45 person cohort of aspiring teachers from across the nation to our city. Once they are here, teachers have found a home to stay and build their professional and personal lives.
Teach Kentucky is known for its community, which is one of the primary reasons teachers thrive in Louisville. Their veteran teachers are committed to helping the newer cohort members which often leads to innovative collaboration and long-lasting friendships.
The Kentucky Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (KY FAME) is a partnership of regional manufacturers whose purpose is to implement career pathway and apprenticeship-style educational programs that will create a pipeline of highly skilled workers. KY FAME helps employers discover the workforce of tomorrow, and helps students launch into their careers today, with no school debt!
KY FAME provides a comprehensive, hands-on education that prepares individuals for a rewarding career in the industry. As part of The Manufacturing Institute, and through its coalition of employers who work collectively to support skills training programs, KY FAME is proactively developing a robust pipeline of qualified workers to close the skills gap. FAME is the premier advanced manufacturing workforce education and development program, helping students become highly skilled, globally competitive, well-rounded and sought-after talent that can meet the unique needs and challenges of today’s modern manufacturing workforce. Every year, FAME graduates’ transition into well-paying, diverse career pathways in critical disciplines across the manufacturing industry and across the country. The Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) program administered under the FAME model leverages a work/learn framework to weave technical knowledge, professional behaviors and distinct manufacturing core exercises into a focused co-op experience to build global-best, entry-level, multi-skilled maintenance technicians.
Once you’re accepted into KY FAME, you will begin work on a combination education/training program to earn certification as an Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT). You will attend classes at a local community college two days a week and work 24 hours a week for a local employer – all while being paid a competitive wage for your work. After five semesters you will have earned an associate degree in Applied Science in Industrial Maintenance Technology-Advanced Manufacturing Technician Track, 68 to 71 college credit hours, two years of work experience and the AMT certification. At that point, you’ll be ready to enter the workforce full time with all the skills needed to succeed—and with the potential of no school debt!
For more information on this program, contact [email protected] or (202) 480-9260.
The Center for Employment Opportunities provides immediate, effective, and comprehensive employment services exclusively to individuals who have recently returned home from incarceration. Their comprehensive employment and training services help individuals connect to a job and career. CEO exists to create greater opportunities for people who face multiple barriers to economic success. With more than half of their participants between 18 and 30 years old, CEO is committed to continuously building, implementing, and evaluating programming that addresses their needs and affirms their agency.
CEO’s program begins with a paid orientation to ensure individuals have what they need to begin work immediately. During the orientation, CEO staff assist each participant in assembling all documents necessary for employment, ensure eligibility for benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and provide appropriate training and PPE for our work crews. Following orientation, participants will continue to engage in workshops and one-on-one support covering crucial digital skills, financial literacy, and workplace and communication best practices. For more information, Contact Jacqueline McGhee-Rutledge at [email protected] or 502-694-7878.
The Kentucky Office of Vocational Rehabilitation is a program provided by the Kentucky Career Center to empower Kentuckians with disabilities to maximize independence and economic security through competitive, integrated employment. Services include supported employment, vocational and other training services, counseling and guidance, job placement and retention, employment follow-up, telecommunications, sensory, and other technological aids and devices.
Mattingly Edge cultivates partnerships that enable people with disabilities to thrive at work, at home, and in relationships. This organization supports people to spend their time, not in day services or specialized programs, but instead working, volunteering, attending school, exercising, socializing, performing personal and household tasks, and investing in other responsible engagements. Mattingly Edge supports people to spend evenings and weekends in their homes and community, hosting friends, attending a book club or art class, or yoga session, participating in a community of faith, going to the local nightspot for a beer, and other ways to enjoy oneself, meet people, and grow as a person. Mattingly Edge refers to these things as “the good things in life.”
To help people attain the good things in life, this organization provides customized one-on-one support with an individual’s specific goals and support needs in mind. A team of Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) is recruited and matched with an individual based on personality, skills, interests, and logistics. The person being supported is always an active participant in the interviewing, hiring, and direction of their support team.
For more information, contact Hope Leet Dittmeier, Executive Director, at [email protected]or (502) 451-6200.
Mission Behind Bars and Beyond (MB3) directly addresses the causes of recidivism and seeks to reduce the rate of recidivism among returning citizens released from Kentucky correctional facilities. The program adopts a multi-layer, holistic approach that begins with the individual while incarcerated, assists with pre-release preparation, and provides support and assistance once the individual returns to the community. Mission Behind Bars and Beyond is making a safer Kentucky, one returning citizen at a time.
For more information, contact (502) 214-5338.
Want to volunteer? MB3 volunteers provide assistance behind the bars and beyond. There are many ways for you to volunteer with MB3:
– Do you know how to knit or crochet?
– Perhaps teach a life skills training class on nutrition, job-interviewing, or financial management?
Let us know and we will find the right place for you as you help transform the lives of those who are seeking a second chance in life. Click here to contact us and we’ll get back to you to discuss options for your participation.
Common Table works to reduce poverty in the community through job training. This organization provides training in the culinary arts to those who face barriers to employment, empowering them to achieve success in their careers and personal lives. During the eight-week program, students learn the basics of working in the food service industry and obtain Louisville Metro Food Service Manager’s Certification. Common Table has an 81% job placement rate and graduates have been hired at the Omni, Collegiate, Eddie Merlot’s, Masterson’s, Levy and Kroger. Common Table offers box lunch catering a recurring 6-week soup and bread subscription, and skills are refined through experiential learning in the Common Table kitchen as students prepare food for catering orders. All revenue generated through catering sales supports the training program.
For more information, contact Lacole Hamilton at [email protected]or 502-873-2566 ext. 256.
