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| Vol. 24, No. 6 | Oct. 16, 1998 |
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| Vol. 24, No. 6 | Oct. 16, 1998 |
MORE THAN 400 ADULTS IN UPPER MANHATTAN WILL BENEFIT
By Amy Callahan
More than 400 residents of Upper Manhattan will receive job training, adult education and employment under a new initiative by Community Impact, the student-based social service program at Columbia.
The three-year Kellogg Jobs and Education Empowerment Project, funded by a $750,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Mich., will enable residents in the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone to achieve independence and self-fulfillment. Because of the Harlem community's socioeconomic distress, the federal government has declared part of the area an Empowerment Zone, a designation which brings together a support network of community and government resources.
"Our Community Impact program has the capacity to make a great difference as one of the supporters of the Empowerment Zone," said George Rupp, president of Columbia University, and an ardent supporter of Community Impact. "The hundreds of student volunteers already provide an array of services to area residents, including instruction for the GED and English as a Second Language. In order for residents of the Empowerment Zone to take advantage of employment opportunities, they must possess the appropriate education, language proficiency and job skills. This new project will help our neighbors achieve their full potential."
Community Impact is Columbia's student-based program providing education, social services and job training to community neighbors in need. Each year, more than 850 Columbia students volunteer to help 14,000 homeless and low-income children, families, adults and seniors through 25 community service programs.
Community Impact began as a student initiative in 1980, with a mission to provide education programs and job training; to relieve the emergency needs of community residents through the provision of food, clothing and temporary shelter; to encourage individual and community self-determination by providing companionship, moral and emotional support; and to promote a greater understanding and concern for urban and public issues.
Sonia Reese, executive director of Community Impact, said: "We're very excited about the opportunity to further assist in the economic development of the Harlem Empowerment Zone. Through the Kellogg Jobs and Education Empowerment Project, we hope to encourage 100 adults to go on to higher education, 100 to enroll in job training programs and 200 to obtain jobs by the end of the grant period."
Reese added that the grant will also allow more Columbia students to participate in Community Impact's GED and English as a Second Language programs. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 to "help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations."