Two New Mexico Colleges Among Five Grantees to Help Women 50+ Train for Jobs

AARP Foundation, with support from the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Social Innovation Fund, has awarded Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque, $176,223, and Santa Fe Community College, in Santa Fe, $187,506, to implement the BACK TO WORK 50+: Women’s Economic Stability Initiative . The Initiative will help women age 50 and older find local jobs and build the financial capability to make sound decisions that reduce debt, rebuild savings and pave the way to greater financial stability.

The grant award was the result of an intensive competition that generated interest from community colleges nationwide. Five colleges in three different states were awarded grants to implement the program. Over three years, these colleges will receive at least $2.4 million. Each of the five colleges has also committed to matching every dollar of Social Innovation Fund and AARP Foundation support with their own funding. As a result, over $4.8 million will be invested in their local community to ensure low-income 50+ women have the information and resources to help them find meaningful employment.

“AARP Foundation is very pleased to work together with community colleges to help older women who face disproportionately higher rates of long-term unemployment find the good jobs they need to avoid slipping into poverty,” said Emily Allen, AARP Foundation, vice president Income Impact Area. “These colleges were selected because of their strong community ties to employers; because of their demonstrated capacity to implement similar projects; and because of their commitment to both help 50+ women and build institutional support for helping older workers find employment.”

Funding for this grant is supported by the Social Innovation Fund (SIF), a program of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), to grow the impact of innovative, community-based solutions that have compelling evidence of improving the lives of people in low-income communities throughout the United States. AARP Foundation was awarded $3 million from the Social Innovation Fund in September 2014 and will match funding with an additional $3 million in support of the project.

The BACK TO WORK 50+: Woman’s Economic Stability Initiative is a subset of the broader BACK TO WORK 50+ pilot that was launched by AARP Foundation in 2013. BACK TO WORK 50+ has expanded to 20 markets across 14 states and has provided over 5,000 unemployed workers information and resources to help them find work. The program underscores AARP Foundation’s commitment to helping workers age 50 and over win back opportunity.

To learn more about this program, please visit: www.aarpfoundation.org/sif.