06/30/2009

Partnership Between Oakland MI Works, Beaumont Hospital, and Oak Park High School Possible through $4.9 Million Recovery Act Funding

(Washington, D.C.)  - Representative Sander Levin visited a Workforce Investment Act Summer Youth Training Program organized by Oakland Michigan Works in partnership with Beaumont Hospital today. There are currently 19 Oak Park students enrolled in the program who are engaged in a variety of work activities at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, ranging from physical therapy and nursing to central processing and inventory.  The students previously participated in a long-standing student mentorship program between Beaumont and Oak Park High School and are now being paid to receive hands-on training in the health care field.

The following comments were made at the event today:

"The Summer Youth Program is one of the more important aspects of our economic recovery," said Rep. Levin. "The importance is to track money voted on in Washington to see how it really matters: this is a perfect example of how money can be well used."

Tiera Irby, a student who was dual enrolled at Oakland Community College while at Oak Park High School, said: "Michigan Works helped me so much, and guided me with what I'm going to do with my life." Irby will be studying nursing at Wayne State University this fall.

Another student, Brandon Woods, said: "(The program is a) great opportunity to work with patients, get in the field, know what the future holds for me." Woods, a graduate of Oak Park High School, will be studying physical therapy at Central Michigan University this fall.

"You who are in this training program are the wave of the future," Rep. Levin told the students. "There was some debate in Washington on the value of the economic recovery and reinvestment - whether you know it or not, you're the reinvestment. We're investing our resources in your future."

Linda Kruso, director of workforce planning for Beaumont Hospitals, said: "Beaumont believes that this is a program that will benefit all of us in the years to come. In addition to the jobs, wages and salaries it will provide to the individuals who participate in the program, it will ensure families in the community will have access to the best health care from well-trained professionals to take care of them when they are in need."

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided $1.2 billion for Workforce Investment Act Summer Youth Training Programs nationwide. Of this amount Michigan received $74 million and, of the state total, Oakland County received $4.9 million. The allocation from the ARRA more than doubles the WIA youth training funds available to Michigan this year.

####