If the fact that spring is only days away doesn’t excite you then maybe this will. CORE has teamed up with The Crossing and Royal Developments to offer new opportunities to our participants in the new Spark Welding Program.
The program is located at New Hope Farms, another non-profit in Fort Wayne that works with youths and young adults. The good news is Spark is available to those participants who are part of Vocational Rehabilitation and also to those who are not. For those not with VR, there are scholarships available to cover the cost of the program. More information about signing up for Spark can be found out website under the “Participants” tab.
What really excites me about this program is that participants will be certified through CORE or by American Welding (AWS) in Mig, Tig, and/or Fabrication. And what is even better, for those who don’t see themselves earning a degree from a college, this opens the door for an amazing career in the welding field where their skills can be used in manufacturing, automobiles, oil and gas, the military, and even art welding! With such a short supply of skilled workers in our country, this is just a fantastic opportunity.
But what excites me even more than the arrival of spring or the opportunity to join CORE’S new program is that our current top participant is a young lady! Girls, if you aren’t yet thinking about a career in the trades industry, this should help change your minds. During my lifetime, it seemed that hands on, manual labor jobs like welding were always dominated by men, but times have changed. As we know, young ladies can be as skilled or even more so than some young men. Given the fact many companies are interested in having a more diverse workforce, this is a win win.
Finally, Spark offers a great opportunity for any individuals with disabilities to earn accreditation in a field which always needs workers and can offer excellent compensation to those with quality skills. We at CORE are thankful for the Don Wood Foundation and other donors who helped make Spark possible for our participants.
