Earn While You Learn

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Red Line

Year Up Inc. – Greater Baltimore Area
Technology & Professional Training Program for
18-24 year olds with a HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA or GED

• Earn a weekly stipend(to be paid bi-monthly) during the 11.5 month program;
• Succeed in an Information Technology internship;
• Belong to a community that provides on-going support;
• Learn in-demand technical, financial, and professional skills;
• Learn 14 free college credits from Baltimore City Community College

A new class starts each January and August!

Eastside One Stop Career Center
3001 E. Madison Street
Baltimore, MD 21205
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
9:00 – 11:00 a.m.

Please call 410-396-9030 to reserve your seat for this event.

Be What I Wanna Be

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Red Line

What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s a question that adults ask children as soon as their imaginations start to soar. For many adults, it’s a question we ask until we retire.

Now there’s a website to help you answer that question. Designed for teens, BeWhatIWantToBe.com can show you a career path toward the career you’ve imagined. Once you select an industry, you will see a list of careers in that field. Select a career and background information and examples of jobs in that industry are displayed. It also tells you how you can prepare for those jobs.

For those who don’t know what they want to be, there are tools for exploring various careers. The exploratory tools link you to Stevenson University. Links to scholarships and workforce development programs will help you on your journey. You can even create a user profile and visit the website as you make your way through your chosen career.

To see for yourself, visit www.BeWhatIWantToBe.com.

Career Expo – Saturday, October 8, 2011

Posted on September 30, 2011 by Red Line

Uplands Career Expo
Date: Saturday, October 8, 2011
Time: 9:00 am to 12:00 pm
Location: Westside Skill Center
4501 Edmondson Avenue Baltimore, Maryland 21229

The Baltimore City Red Line Economic Employment Office, Southwest Baltimore Community Development Corporation, Uplands Visionaries, LLC, and Edmondson/Westside High School are hosting a Career Expo in the Uplands community on Saturday, October 8, 2011 from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. This is a free event open to all residents of Baltimore City.

Jobs are scarce and unemployment is at an all time high. We want to ensure that when jobs do become available Baltimore City residents are ready and trained for those opportunities.

The purpose of this event is to work with residents and small businesses in the area to get people job ready and employed at Uplands and on other construction projects throughout Baltimore City. Event vendors include but are not limited to the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, the Baltimore City PACE Program, Harkins Builders, and My Brother’s Keeper. They look forward to connecting people to resources that can assist them in getting training and employment.

In addition, there will also be connections for contractors looking for subcontracting opportunities on the Uplands Redevelopment project. The leading contractors on the project, Bozzuto Homes and Harkins Builders, will be available to connect potential subcontractors to opportunities on the Uplands job. While prequalification may be necessary, you can learn that process and get on your way to working with these two builders.

The Career Expo will be held at the Edmondson/Westside High School Skill Center building. Parking is available on the rear parking lot (enter on Athol Avenue). The Skill Center is also accessible by bus (#20, #23, and #40).

For more information, contact the Red Line Economic Empowerment Office at 410.396.4147, email the Economic Empowerment Officer, Kenya Asli, at kenya.asli@baltimorecity.gov, or reply below.

The Coffee Express

Posted on August 9, 2011 by Red Line

This week marked the opening of the first micro-enterprise at a future Red Line stop. The Coffee Express launched on August 8, 2011 to serve commuters and locals at the West Baltimore MARC Station. The Red Line Economic Empowerment Office collaborated with the Small Business Resource Center, Bon Secours Foundation, PNC Bank, and Baltimore Neighborhood Collaborative (BNC) to develop this opportunity.

Putting Baltimore to work is the first priority set in the Red Line Community Compact. What better way to accomplish this than by assisting a community resident with an entrepreneurial spirit to start her business at a busy transit station?

Mrs. LaTonya Lucas-Bond, a West Baltimore resident, operates the mobile coffee cart Monday – Friday from 4 am – 10 am. She receives assistance with managing her inventory and market research from Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship Program (YEEP) – a program in partnership with Bon Secours. The program provides youth with a wide variety of work and entrepreneurial experiences. The Coffee Express sells coffee, tea, pastry, soft drinks, newspapers and other items to get busy commuters ready for their trips beyond Baltimore.

Mrs. Bond and her husband Charles are lifelong Baltimore residents who currently live near Hollins Market. They have four children who attend Baltimore City Public Schools from grades kindergarten to 10th. They also co-own Equinox Hair, a unisex salon, on Park Avenue in downtown Baltimore. Mrs. Bond was able to get this project off the ground with help from the Bon Secours Foundation, who purchased the coffee cart with funding from PNC Bank, BNC who provided funding for equipment, and the Small Business Resource Center who helped her draft a winning business plan. The Red Line Economic Empowerment Office connected Mrs. Bond to this opportunity and continues to work with her to identify resources to help her to grow her new enterprise.

This is the first of many initiatives being developed by the Red Line Economic Empowerment Office. The Office is working to create a pipeline for jobs, job training, contractors and entrepreneurs to prepare them for work and opportunities on the Red Line project as well as along the Red Line’s 14 mile corridor.