Eastside Career Development Center launches in Wilmington, providing construction and healthcare pathways to get students workforce-ready in six months.
The ECDC will offer construction and healthcare programs that executive director Natalie Rose says students can complete in six months.
“If I kind of tweak the syllabus, which I’m able to do, I can better help students move into the workforce," Rose says. "I don’t want them here for two years. I want them to get going on what they’re doing. So I’ve spent a lot of time trying to create partnerships in healthcare, partnerships in the field, like with big conglomerates, just so people have sustainable jobs.”
Rose says classes will be held at a community service building until renovations on the recently acquired Mt. Enon Baptist Church are completed next fall.
Delaware State Housing Authority Director Eugene Young says workforce development is connected with healthcare and housing too.
“So a major part of this is we have to make sure people are properly trained, to have quality job training, to get access to quality paying jobs so people don’t have to work two and three jobs to put food on the table," Young says.
The ECDC is part of the Central Baptist Community Development Corporation, which also offers housing and nutritional programs President Rev. Terrance Keeling agrees are all connected.
“What we wanted to do was create something that would train the people so that they could actually work on the houses that were being done because we knew it was going to open up jobs, and ultimately get them in a position where they would be able to buy the houses that they were working on.”
Programs begin in January with three core classes – strategic communications, computer studies, and financial literacy.
The center also provides private training to employers looking to close skill gaps in their own workforces.
