08/16/2018
HCC offering free, community-based ESOL classes to Hurricane Evacuees
Holyoke Community College Division of Business and Community Services Adult Education ESOL Department is offering free ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) classes to evacuees of Hurricane Maria from Puerto Rico. The classes began on July 23, and will go until December 22. Enrollment will close in September. The classes are funded through a National Dislocated Worker Grant administered by the Regional Employment Board of Hampden County.
The classes (Intermediate and High Intermediate) are being held at the Picknelly Adult and Family Education Center Monday through Thursday, 9 am – 1 pm.
In addition, a Beginner class is being offered at Valley Opportunity Council in Chicopee.
The purpose of the classes is to assist individuals to:
1) Improve their reading, writing, speaking and comprehension in English;
2) Become literate and obtain the knowledge and skills necessary for employment and economic self-sufficiency
HCC responded to a Request for Qualifications issued by The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, Inc. (REB), a non-profit, workforce development organization. Eligible applicants were community Adult Learning Centers that are currently recipients (FY 2018), or selected vendors from the recent procurement (FY 2019), of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Adult Education and Family Literacy Services to provide ESOL and/or ABE services.
HCC conducted ESOL assessments of eligible candidates at CareerPoint and Future Works One-Stop Career Centers in Holyoke and Springfield, and grouped applicants by ESOL level, and preference for day or evening classes. To date, 16 are enrolled in the classes at PAFEC. We continue to assess applicants, add students to daytime classes, and may add evening classes if there is a need.
The U.S. Department of Labor awarded National Dislocated Worker Grant funds to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development to assist local One-Stop Career Centers in serving people who have relocated to Massachusetts due to the recent hurricanes (Irma and Maria – October 2017). The Regional Employment Board of Hampden County, Inc. (REB) has been selected as the Primary Operator for these funds.
Eligible applicants must be hurricane evacuees from Puerto Rico or the Virgin Islands, must be job seekers, and must be registered through CareerPoint or Future Works One-Stop Career Centers. Please refer any interested applicant to Kate Smith at CareerPoint ([email protected], 413-322-7162 or Joe MIneo at FutureWorks, [email protected], (413) 858-2845.
Anyone from the campus community who has further questions about the program may contact Kermit Dunkelberg, [email protected], 413-552-2502.
