Project FORWARD Trains Participants In IT And Culinary Skills

Despite COVID-19 challenges, Project FORWARD is still up and running better than ever! Most recently, some of our participants completed an IT Boot Camp run by Ronald Greene. For five weeks, our participants took part in a computer class that taught them everything from computer basics and emailing, to software and applications. These participants received a certificate upon completion of the program and now have IT skills to enter the workforce more prepared than they were before.
 
Moving forward, we are super excited to be partnering with a local catering business to introduce a mini cooking series. This series will be for participants that are interested in the culinary field or who may be leaning toward it as an option. Our participants will be educated on intro to cooking skills & food preparation along with food safety and hygiene guidelines. In the end, participants will take a test which will provide them with a ServSafe Food Handler Training certificate. This certification is through the National Restaurant Association and will make our participants more qualified when applying to jobs in the food industry.
 
In other news, The Dutchess County Chamber of Commerce and The Chamber Foundation have come together to form a new Business Engagement Committee and we are looking for community members to join the team! Through this we hope to connect businesses that want to engage with our program participants, which could be done in many different ways; guest speakers, meet & greets, reverse job fairs, mini job fairs, etc. If you or anyone you know is interested in being a part of this committee, or looking to participate in any of these activities, please do not hesitate to reach out!
 
As always, we are looking for new individuals to enroll and be a part of our awesome program! If you know of a young adult or are interested yourself in learning more about Project FORWARD, please call Jenna Salmonese, at 845-454-1700 ext. 1028, or email jsalmonese@dcrcoc.org.