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Moraine Valley Community College has received a $10,000 grant from Joliet Junior College to begin a partnership with them in the American Association of Community Colleges’ Plus 50 Initiative. The effort expands the community college movement to help unemployed workers age 50 and over train for new jobs and sharpen their marketable skills.
Joliet Junior College has participated in the national three-year program since its inception in 2008 and will serve as a Learning Partner for Moraine Valley, a new affiliate of the Plus 50 Initiative. As a result of the partnership, Moraine Valley will expand training and re-training opportunities for “Plus 50” students who are seeking to stay in the workforce.
Moraine Valley will closely model what Joliet Junior College already has in place. An advisory group will examine both the services Moraine Valley currently offers that can be tailored to “Plus 50” students and the Plus 50 Initiative program at Joliet Junior College to determine what should be included in Moraine Valley’s program. Some of those things could include job counseling and tuition waivers.
Baby Boomers may face the steepest odds of any unemployed workers in the job market, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In 2008, laid-off workers over age 50 were out of work for 22.2 weeks, compared with 16.2 weeks for younger workers. When they land jobs, Baby Boomers typically experience a more significant drop in earnings than their younger counterparts.
For more information about Moraine Valley’s role in the initiative, call Workforce Development and Community Services at (708) 974-5735 or visit morainevalley.edu/wdcs. To learn more about the Plus 50 Initiative, visit plus50.aacc.nche.edu.
For news media inquiries, call Jessica Crotty, coordinator of College and Community Relations, at (708) 974-5281, or e-mail her at crotty@morainevalley.edu.
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