Back 2 Work is a program offering individualized support and job opportunities in a trade industry. At Centro Rendu, a special works project for our Seattle|King County Council, we are providing culturally and language specific programming, which includes adult basic education, high school completion, financial & computer literacy, leadership and civic engagement opportunities, case management services in Spanish, and legal counseling.

 

Our Back 2 Work participants will learn to start a career, earn a living wage and become valued members of the workforce. Anyone unemployed or working a minimum wage job and over 18 will qualify for this program. We began creating our Back 2 Work program in July 2019. We had been operating our high school completion programs such as GED and “21+” since 2015 to help Latino adults receive high school diploma.

We currently have a pipeline for jobs at our SVdP thrift stores, community resource connectors program, parent liaisons in the schools, and tutors for our INEA literacy program. We have naturally encouraged and empowered mothers to become liaisons in their schools, sometimes getting jobs in the community.

 

Some mothers continued studying to become licensed child-care providers, para-educators, peer and community connectors, and even case managers. We have received funding for school parent cultural brokers and systems navigators from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation.

 

We have a training program for case managers, cashiers, parent school ambassadors, and Helpline assistants. We work with Washington Cash, now called Ventures, to help develop entrepreneurial skills and supports. Centro Rendu is excited to offer all of our students training that prepares them for success in work. This includes training in “employability skills” including resume development, budgeting, time management, customer service and other skills that are important for success in any job.