In the first year of the pandemic, the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) channeled nearly $17 million to more than 120 local organizations that provided job training, education, career coaching, English instruction, youth programming, and other essential services detailed in the newly released Fiscal Year 2021 OWD Annual Report.
The report, Bold Action for an Equitable Recovery, which covers the period July 2020 – June 2021, features the many ways that OWD-funded programs improvised adaptations to their service delivery, met and surmounted technological obstacles, and succeeded in providing crucial services to Boston residents in a time of crisis.
One such resident was Jailen Hamilton of Roslindale. With the help of the City’s Tuition-Free Community College Plan, he completed an Associate Degree in Electrical Technology and started a promising electrical career in the midst of the pandemic.
“It feels good to not have to worry,” Hamilton said. “I’m doing more things for myself now, getting my own money and not just getting by.”
Read the BPDA press release to learn more.