OPA-LOCKA, FLA. (WSVN) - United Way Miami helping people fly high with a brand new partnership. The non-profit is expanding its workforce program, “UpSkill Miami”.
The program helps underserved communities receive training and employment opportunities for high-demand industries.
“These are individuals who are literally working every single day to just make ends meet,” said Symeria Hudson, president and CEO of United Way Miami. “They are asset limited, income constrained but yet they are still working, we call them, unfortunately, the working poor.”
Their new partnership is with the Barrington Irving Technical Training School at Opa-locka Airport. The school offers courses and professional certifications to students who want to kickstart a career in aviation.
“This is a phenomenal opportunity to extend training and learning opportunities to those in the community who quite honestly may not know what they want to do career-wise or they might be struggling with what may be the next step in my life,” said Barrington Irving, founder of the school.
The program aims to help students land any number of technician jobs as they tackle the courses over several months.
But that’s not all it does.
“So many folks in our community, need wrap around support, they need mentorship, they need financial literacy in addition to training and embarking upon a new career,” said Irving.
This will be the second phase of partnerships with UpSkill Miami.
They first started by placing members in industries like health, construction and now aviation, which couldn’t come any sooner.
“We’re growing economically, and in addition to that, aviation is flourishing in South Florida, we need people,” said Irving. “The average age of a technician is 54 years old. We are struggling to find talent.”
One student ,who said he came from a troubled background, said this was the opportunity of a lifetime.
“It changed my life completely, as in Barrington giving us the opportunity to get us into the aviation industry and I’m a perfect example of one of those students,” said Jevon Jackson, a student at the school.
All this to keep the South Florida community alive and thriving.
“That is really our goal, truly partner with more organizations like the Barrington School to ensure that great people have a chance to have an incredible future in our community,” said Hudson.
In the past, UpSkill Miami has partnered with several Florida organizations, including Baptist Health, Florida Power & Light and Florida International University.
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