REES Honored as Exceptional Employer
Brooklyn Workforce Innovations (BWI), an organization that helps unemployed and working poor New Yorkers gain access to careers, honored NYCHA’s Resident Training Academy (NRTA) and the Department of Resident Economic Empowerment and Sustainability (REES) with the Exceptional Employer Award on Monday, June 11.
Accepting the award at its annual gala on behalf of REES, General Manager Michael Kelly said, “It’s an honor to be acknowledged for the work we do in the NYCHA Resident Training Academy, which prepares our residents for careers with NYCHA. Programs like the Resident Training Academy provide the blueprint for the next generation of job training services on the horizon.”
General Manager Kelly also thanked the REES team for the important work they do for residents. REES staff in attendance (from left in photo) included Eileen Cepeda, Zone Coordinator; Sideya Sherman, Director of REES; Gemma Thomas, Training Academy Manager; and Jackie Pimentel, Training Academy Specialist.
NRTA has graduated more than 1,100 residents since it began in 2001; 86 percent of the residents who started the program have completed the training. The program is a partnership between NYCHA, Robin Hood, and some of the leading employment trainers in the City, including BWI and the NYC College of Technology. Through NRTA, residents have received training in construction, janitorial services, and pest control.
REES staff provides job placement assistance for successful graduates; 89 percent of graduates have been placed into jobs as caretakers, pest control technicians, and maintenance aides, and in various construction-related positions with NYCHA contractors and affordable housing developers.
NRTA trainings are designed not only to prepare residents for entry-level employment, but to assist in developing career plans that will lead to long-term employment, promotions, and increased wages. REES is currently recruiting for NRTA’s 2015 Construction class. For more information, visit opportunitynycha.org.
