CLEVELAND COMMUNITY GROUP HOSTS KICK-OFF EVENT

FOR NEW NEIGHBORHOOD CAREER HOTLINE

MidTown Cleveland                                                                    Jeanniece Jackson
5000 Euclid Avenue                                                                    216-391-5080 ext.109
Cleveland, Ohio 44103                                                               jjackson@midtowncleveland.org

CLEVELAND – After a full year of high unemployment and sluggish job growth in Northeast Ohio, experts predict a post-COVID recovery that will include a period of economic expansion, as businesses open and begin to rehire.

In anticipation of local job growth, a partnership of community organizations has developed the new Neighborhood Career Hotline – a free service designed to make it easy for job seekers from 3 target neighborhoods to connect with career-training opportunities.

Neighborhood residents, employers and interested organizations can learn about the hotline during a virtual event at 6 p.m. Thursday, April 1 Click here to register or visit tiny.cc/hotlinelaunch.

The hotline was developed in partnership with MidTown Cleveland; Metro West Community Development Organization; Burten, Bell, Carr Development; Towards Employment; and The Fund for Our Economic Future, which is funding the new hotline.

Through the hotline, callers from the neighborhoods served by MidTown, Burten, Bell, Carr and Metro West are assigned a career counselor, who helps them identify and connect with resources for career planning, training, job placement and associated support services needed for starting careers in information technology, healthcare, manufacturing and other industries.

Job seekers can use the hotline to explore career options, identify scholarships for credentialed training and connect with employers offering immediate job openings.

“MidTown Cleveland is excited to partner with Towards Employment, BBC and Metro West in kicking off the new Neighborhood Career Hotline,” said Jeff Epstein, executive director of MidTown Cleveland, Inc. “We are thankful for the continued support of the Fund for Our Economic Future in this endeavor.”

“It will be great to have a one stop process for residents to find out about jobs.  When we talk to residents, they don’t want a long, drawn out process to find a job, they need help immediately,” said Joy Johnson, executive director of Burten, Bell, Carr Development. “This will streamline the process to get them connected to employment opportunities.”

“We are thrilled for the opportunity to connect residents in the Metro West community to the Neighborhood Career Hotline,” said Ricardo León, executive director of Metro West Community Development Organization. “We thank our partners, Midtown, BBC, Towards Employment, and the Fund for Our Economic Future for their hard work and dedication to this critical effort.

Access to relevant and effective job training programs for people who are unemployed and underemployed continues to restrict many Clevelanders from a living wage and access to career advancement opportunities. This hotline will provide direct access to specially-trained employment counselors who can navigate the region’s training and workforce landscape, which can be overwhelming for many people.

The Neighborhood Career Hotline is designed to serve residents 18 and over of the Midtown, Central, Kinsman, Buckeye-Shaker Square, Buckeye-Woodhill, Stockyard, Clark-Fulton and Brooklyn Centre neighborhoods including those who were involved in the criminal justice system. The program especially encourages Black and Latinx workers to participate, with a focus on industries where these populations are underrepresented, such as information technology and manufacturing.

To use the new Neighborhood Career Hotline, visit cutt.ly/careerhotline or call 216-399-3550 starting, Wednesday, March 31, 2021.

The Fund for Our Economic Future is a collaborative of foundations, corporations, universities, health care systems, private businesses and civic agencies that focuses on advancing economic growth in Northeast Ohio.

Midtown Cleveland is the sole organization charged with leveraging MidTown’s diverse assets to develop a dynamic neighborhood that unites the city’s downtown and innovation districts.

Burten, Bell, Carr Development is a nonprofit community development corporation that empowers residents and revitalizes blighted and underserved communities in Cleveland’s Central and Kinsman neighborhoods since 1990. BBC has extended its service area to the Buckeye-Shaker Square and Buckeye-Woodhill neighborhoods.

Metro West Community Development Organization serves the Stockyard, Clark-Fulton and Brooklyn Centre neighborhoods, celebrating three diverse and culturally rich neighborhoods, while fostering opportunities for residents of dynamic socio-cultural-economic backgrounds.

Towards Employment is a workforce development organization that builds career pathways to successful, long-term employment, while creating a talent pipeline for local businesses.