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The Harlan County Chamber of Commerce heard from the Volunteers of America organization recently during the Chamber’s April meeting. The organization assists unemployed and underemployed individuals in Harlan County who lack employable skills.

Amy Rowland Turner, of Volunteers of America, spoke to the Chamber about the Workforce Reintegration Program, which is available in Harlan, Bell, Breathitt, Clay, Jackon, Knox, Laurel, Leslie, Letcher, McCreary, Owsley, Perry, Powell, Whitley, and Wolfe counties.

“In Harlan, we have the workforce reintegration program,” Turner said. “What this means is they can come to us; they don’t have to be in recovery…they can come to us if they need help.”

Turner explained that Volunteers of America’s Workforce Reintegration Program is designed to assist individuals who are in need of employable skills, training, continuing education, and support services to maintain gainful employment.

“They can come to us, and they’ll have a career coach, they’ll have a workforce development specialist, and a case manager,” Turner said. “They’ll sit down and work through their schedule and see what the needs are.”

She explained that the goal of the program is to help participants locate and acquire a job which is a good fit for the individual.

“We want them to have a long-term career where they can actually support their family,” Turner said.

Turner said the program includes options to assist people who require further education.

“If they need to go back to school, starting with GED on up, as long as we can have them in and out of school before our program is over, which is three years from when we started, we can do that,” Turner said.

Turner said the program may also include assistance with some transportation issues such as vehicle repairs and transportation costs.

For more information, call 606-765-3566, or 606-594-4694. Information is also available via email at amyry@voamid.org, cathyh@voamid.org, or on the web at https://www.voa.org.