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Co-Lin receives grant for senior employment program
WESSON- Copiah-Lincoln Community College has been awarded a grant of $552,708 from Senior Service America, Inc. Almost 90 percent of this grant – originally from the U.S. Department of Labor – will provide temporary employment to at least 93 low-income older adults living in Adams, Amite, Claiborne, Copiah, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Pike, Simpson, Smith, Walthall, and Wilkinson Counties. These older adults will participate in the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) a major program of the Older Americans Act. SCSEP, the only federal job training program focused exclusively on helping low income seniors, promotes personal dignity and self-sufficiency through work. SCSEP allows eligible persons to participate for up to only four years, but the average tenure nationally is 18 months.
“We are very pleased to continue our support of the Copiah-Lincoln Community College for the 45th consecutive year,” said Gary A. Officer, Senior Service America Executive Director. Co-Lin has received this annual SCSEP grant since 1972. Senior Service America is the second largest U.S. Department of Labor National Grantee of SCSEP.
“This program delivers a triple win for older adults and the whole community,” said Brenda Brown Orr, Dean of Community Programs. “First, SCSEP participants are helping about 40 local community, faith-based, and public agencies carry out their mission, including Angel’s Attic, Boy’s and Girl’s Club of Southwest MS, Copiah County Human Resource Agency, WIN Job Centers, and Natchez Senior Citizen Centers. Second, older workers are keeping healthy by remaining connected and not isolated in their community. And third, SCSEP is providing hope and the dignity of work to low income 55+ who are not job ready and have the toughest employment challenges. Older Mississippians are fortunate to be given the opportunity to work and transform their lives through SCSEP.”
Employers who are interested in hiring older workers can find out more about SCSEP by contacting Anna Rogers, Co-Lin’s Senior Community Service Employment Program Coordinator, at 601-643-8673.
About Senior Service America, Inc.
Senior Service America, Inc. (SSAI) is a national nonprofit organization that provides employment opportunities to low-income and other adults 55+ in 34 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. As one of 19 national SCSEP grantees of the U.S. Department of Labor, SSAI is based in Silver Spring, Maryland, and provides more than $38 million in Senior Community Service Employment Program funds annually to a diverse network of 65 local partner organizations in 13 states. For more information, go to www.seniorserviceamerica.org, call (301) 578-8826, email gofficer-ssa-i.org, or Twitter @SrSvcAmerica. (Officer is available for phone interviews upon request.
