Hispanic Resource Center Gets $4500 in
Grants: Laborers Will Learn Right Way to Paint
Wachovia & Sound Federal Supply Funds
by Harold Wolfson
of Hispanic Resource Center
(November 13, 2003) How do you paint and plaster a home -
the right way? Thanks to a bank grant,
the Hispanic
Resource Center will be helping its clients learn the principles
and practice of house painting to help prepare them for
well-paying jobs in the field.
Master painter Laurentino Nava
demonstrates proper wall preparation for Hispanic Resource
Center trainee Joel Sanchez. |
The
Resource Center announced it has received $2,500 from Wachovia
Bank to fund a training program for day laborers
in house
painting
and plastering. They received an additional $2,000 grant
from Sound Federal Bancorp to support their ongoing program
that
helps area immigrants transition into the mainstream. The
program provides English language, cultural and
vocational training as well
as assistance and referrals for jobs, housing and health.
With the Wachovia funds, the Hispanic Resource Center is
hiring a master painter who will train a half-dozen day laborers
in the basics and fine-points of painting. The first round
of training began at the beginning of November. The Resource
Center had access to a house in need of repairs.
Once
the laborers got the basics down pat, they got
to practice their skills by actually painting and plastering
in the sample house, under the supervision of the master
painter.
“We expect to continue and expand this approach to
better training for better jobs,” said Center Executive
Director Harold Lasso. “We hope to work with other
disciplines yet to be determined. The Wachovia grant
is a start.”
In the past, the Hispanic Resource Center had been able
to train clients in using specialty tools - such as power
saws
or
gardening equipment. “This Wachovia grant allows us
to take the training one step further and put the trainees
to work in a real life work setting,” said Lasso.
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