NEW YORK, NY, Jan. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In December 2021, Robin Hood, a non-profit organization that fights poverty in New York City and has provided assistance to one million New Yorkers impacted by COVID-19, awarded $1.2 million to Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC/CUNY) for the launch of the project IT and Healthcare Opportunities through Programs in Education (IHOPE).
Over an 18-month period, IHOPE will serve 180 participants who are 25 years of age and older, and 25% of those served will be single mothers or home health aides. Other students — including the justice involved, immigrants and individuals who have lost jobs as a result of the pandemic — will be recruited through IHOPE’s community partners, and most of the programming will take place at BMCC’s recently expanded CUNY in The Heights campus at 5030 Broadway in Upper Manhattan.
The IHOPE initiative will recruit and place individuals into jobs with family sustaining wages and careers with continued opportunities for growth as well as stability.
Participants will be provided with technical skills workshops, career exploration, paid internships, tutoring, basic needs support in the form of childcare, counseling, food emergency funding, and industry-specific workshops in communication, teamwork, critical thinking for information technology and more.
Among other benefits, IHOPE participants will gain credits that carry into associate degree programs at BMCC.
Students who complete the Certified Nurse Assistant training will accrue nine credits towards an Associate in Community or Public Health degree at BMCC. Those who complete the Cybersecurity Certificate program will earn three credits towards an Associate degree in Computer Network Technology.
Students who complete the Licensed Practical Nursing Certificate will be prepared to apply for the Associate in Nursing degree program at BMCC. Other IHOPE certificate training options include Basic EKG and Phlebotomy for Health Professionals, and Medical Billing and Coding.
“With the understanding that talent is equally distributed, but opportunities are not, BMCC envisions this project not as a one-off, one-time project, but rather as an initiative to be operationalized across the College for the benefit of all BMCC students,” said Christopher Shults, Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning.
“Our funding partners make it more possible for us to put into action, a strategic plan that charges us to bolster the bridge between academic programming and higher-wage careers,” said BMCC President Anthony E. Munroe. “Together, we empower student agency in shaping their own higher education path that moves toward meaningful and family-sustaining professions. We reimagine successful program models in order to better serve our lowest-income students, our non-traditional and returning students, students who are from Black, Brown and immigrant communities where tomorrow’s leaders will emerge.”
About BMCC
Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) is part of the City University of New York (CUNY), awarding associate degrees in more than 50 fields and ranked #1 among community colleges nationwide in granting associate degrees to minority students, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education. BMCC is a diverse teaching and learning community committed to advancing equity and the intellectual and personal growth of students. Working to strengthen a culture of care inside and outside the classroom, the faculty and staff of BMCC share a passion for learning with students from around the world, and strive to increase degree completion, successful transfer, career achievement and service and leadership within the BMCC community, New York City, and beyond. Visit: http://www.bmcc.cuny.
