Community Impact’s Jobs and Education Empowerment Project (J.E.E.P.) educates 1,000 individuals annually, providing invaluable high school diploma equivalency’s General Education Development (GED) classes, English as a Second Language (ESL) courses, job-training, and college and job search assistance. One of these 1,000 participants, Jessica W., took part in J.E.E.P.’s GED classes, as well as an intensive college preparation course taught by Community Impact board member Professor Robert Hanning of Columbia University’s Department of English and Comparative Literature. Jessica also interned at Community Impact, learning administrative office skills. Simultaneously, she worked with the Community Impact college counselors to apply to college. In the summer of 2001, she earned her GED diploma, and in the spring of 2002, she began classes at City University of New York’s Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College. She plans to transfer to a four-year institution.

Jessica is just one of Community Impact’s many success stories. She seized the chance to advance her education and employment opportunities through the many programs offered through J.E.E.P. Now, an enhanced J.E.E.P. will be available to more people like Jessica because in October 2002, the U.S. Department of Education awarded Community Impact $300,000 for the establishment of a new community technology center in Upper Manhattan: the Urban Neighborhood Empowerment through Technology (Urban NET) Project. In partnership with the community development organization West Harlem Group Assistance, Urban NET will establish three new computer labs, increasing computer access for low-income adults in Harlem, Morningside, and Washington Heights. Urban NET will provide computer-assisted learning for GED, ESL, citizenship, and self-sufficiency classes, as well as an increased number of computer classes. It will also enable participants to have more access to computers for job and college search activities. Intermediate and advanced computer training courses, including Microsoft Office User Specialist certification and A+ computer repair certification, will also be offered, preparing participants for skilled employment.

In order to maximize the impact in our community, the grant will be shared with the following partner organizations: Finney Learning Systems; Technical Career Institutes, College for Technology; and West Harlem Group Assistance. We are excited about empowering the network of altruism being forged in our community.