ORGANIZATIONAL DISCRIPTION:
Word of life is a 501 (c) (3) organization that was incooperated in 1987 in
The Dalles, Oregon. There is a Board of Directors comprised of four
residents of The Dalles area. Documentation to that affect can be provided
upon request.
ORGANIZATIONAL MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT:
Our mission is to continue providing: Food, clothing, footwear and other
necessities to those less fortunate on a local basis. Our primary focus,
however, will be on providing quality and employable vocational skills
training to those persons who have limited or marketable job skills.
Our vision encompasses local ex-offenders recently released from
incarceration or who are on probation, high school drop-outs, senior
citizens, mentally and physically impaired persons, military veterans,
at-risk youth, dislocated workers, single parents, and homeless persons.
Within the parameters of that vision are all of the cities of the five-county
areas surrounding The Dalles, Oregon, where thousands of people are in
desparate need of employment. This particular area has the highest
unemployment statistics in the entire state of Oregon. The overwealming
need to put people back to work and to train them in many skills is paramount.
PROJECT DISCRIPTION AND MISSION STATEMENT:
Our goal is to implement structured classroom workshops, training facilities
and a supportive environment to provide the five-county area of the Columbia
River Gorge with quality trained persons to fill local jobs. We intend to place
at least fifty people, every six to nine months into a productive job market,
with the confidence that they can persue and fulfill the requirements of the
jobs that pay above minimum wage. Additionally, our goal is to institute and
provide job recruiting and placement services for local business partners, so
our graduates can become gainfully employed when their training is completed.
TARGET MARKET AND GEOGRAPHIC AREA SERVED:
Locally, The Dalles, Oregon, is a community of approximately 12,200 in a
region that borders Oregon, and Washington, known as the Columbia River
Gorge Basin. Severe economical problems in the area, largely due to significant
layoffs and numerous closures of vital key industries, has resulted in the highest unemployment rates for the entire state of Oregon. Job skill-training is a key,
and a missing element in society today - primarily due to the high cost for such
training. Our goal is to provide cost-free training programs to those people.
Currently approximately 500 people per month, between the ages of 14 and 60
need the kind of help our services would provide. Their income ranges from a
no income, or low income status to less than $2000 dollars per month. |
