Lynchburg organizations partner to offer free job training for youth in need

LYNCHBURG, Va. (WDBJ) - The Lynchburg community gathered for a ribbon cutting Friday morning to celebrate the partnership between the Lynchburg Community Action Group and the Old Dominion Job Corps.

The collaboration will allow those who are income-eligible to receive job training that leads to industry certifications for free.

The focus will be on youth ages 16 to 24.

“I think that population can be, the population sometimes is overlooked, especially if you went through high school, but you weren’t on a college track,” said Chief Executive Officer for Lynchburg Community Action Group Tamara Rosser. “So, I think if we can educate them about the possibilities that they may have never even thought about before, we get them in the door, get them trained, then there are success stories.”

They will also provide transportation to and from the Job Corps campus in Amherst County for free.

“Two years ago, we were in the process of trying to figure out how we can better impact our youth in the city,” said Business Community liaison for Old Dominion Job Corps James Davis. “We’re developing what we call a non-residential program, or commuter student. We realized that location was so significant for youth. Most of them walk. So, serving that community, we needed to create access.”

The classes include training in construction, medicine, security, and many other trades.

“We’re going to age out if we’re not looking behind us and looking in front of us. We have to reach towards those young people and groom them through a process of a career base so that at some point that we know who’s going to be our successors,” added Davis.

Old Dominion Job Corps now has an office inside the Lynchburg Community Action Group building. They will reach out to the youth in the city through events and working with other community agencies.

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