ProLiteracy

Rick Lawton — From Board Member to Literacy Program Manager

ProLiteracy board member Rick Lawton became involved with the national organization 13 years ago because he wanted to promote workforce literacy. Now, he's in charge of a $3.6 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant to prepare underserved populations for jobs in the green construction industry.

U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Hilda Solis will visit the Denver-based program on Thursday, July 7.

Lawton, a ProLiteracy board member since 1997, is now project manager for Mi Casa Resource Center, which is managing the ARRA grant with partners Charity's House, Denver Institute of Urban Studies, Local 28 of the Heat and Frost Insulators and Asbestos Workers Union, the International Center for Appropriate and Sustainable Technologies (iCAST), and the City of Denver Office of Economic Development.

The partnership hopes to train 500 homeless, veterans, ex-offenders, chronically under- and unemployed residents, women, and minorities from five of the poorest neighborhoods in the city of Denver.

"Thirty percent of the young adult population in these areas have no high school diploma," Lawton said. To be eligible for the program, applicants must pass a drug test and test at a 5.9 TABE score—approximately the sixth grade reading level. Once accepted for participation, they will attend classes in solar installation, green construction techniques, weatherization, project administration, sales and customer service, computer literacy, and two years of the Local 28 apprenticeship program. The partnership chose green construction as its area for training because "it's the only job sector growing in the U.S. today," Lawton noted.

As important as the technical skills training is the training in life skills and job readiness that each student will receive.

"Employers are as interested in the life skills and job readiness skills of new employees as they are their technical skills," Lawton said. "These courses are geared toward helping students learn how to be good employees, things like dealing with transportation systems so they can get to work on time and preparing for a job interview, then things like how to handle a checking account so they can be self-sufficient when they do get a job."

The grant covers support services for students, including bus passes, daycare, mental health support, and literacy tutoring in basic math, reading, and English as a second language. Lawton said that, as a literacy tutor, he often saw how these issues hindered adult learners from completing programs.

When Secretary Solis visits on July 7, she will tour the one-time factory that was rehabbed for a charter school that then lost its charter. Now it houses offices for staff from the partnership, classrooms, and workshops. One class is scheduled to be working with pipes so the Secretary will have the opportunity to see "hands on instruction," Lawton said.

ProLiteracy President and CEO David Harvey said he was excited when he heard that Secretary Solis will visit the new program. "I'm thrilled for Rick and everyone involved with this project. It's especially exciting when a local community-based organization can be viewed as one model of collaboration among Workforce Investment Boards, adult literacy programs funded under Title II of the Workforce Investment Act, industry, and local government," Harvey said. He added that Congress should look at the program as it begins work on updating and reauthorizing the Workforce Investment Act.

"ProLiteracy has long thought that community-based organizations are responsible for some of the most innovative adult literacy work underway in the country right now," Harvey said. "These programs have the flexibility needed to make innovative changes quickly. They deserve to be studied closely for their ability to help adults at the lowest literacy levels secure employment."

The job training program's target is to train 500 students, graduate 400, and employ 270 for at least six months. The partnership hopes to see another 30 continue their education through additional training or apprenticeships over 30 months.

What we really want for our students is economic independence—that they find jobs that pay a living wage once they're through with the program," Lawton said. "That's what will be the success."