The purpose of this Golden LEAF Opportunities for Work grant was to support the efforts of Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, Inc. to serve individuals with scholarship support, funding for books and college fees not covered by WIOA and other available funding, unmet needs for items like work-related physicals, driver’s license fees, etc., and childcare while the participants were in training. Careers in high demand for this region are Professional Truck Driver Training/CDL, Customer Service/Call Center, Forklift Operator, Nursing Assistant, Welding, Pharmacy Assistant, HVAC, and Facility Maintenance Technician. Goodwill became the service provider for NCWorks in July 2018 for a seven-county region of North Carolina and the project served Davie, Stokes, Surry, Wilkes, and Yadkin counties with participants enrolling in multiple community colleges (Wilkes CC, Forsyth Technical CC, Caldwell CC&TI, Catawba Valley CC, and Davidson-Davie CC.) Grant funds were used for tuition, childcare, salaries, support services, outreach events, and supplies. Goodwill is sustaining the program by working with funding partners and including the program as one of Goodwill’s core services.
