ProjectRISE is a comprehensive five-week adult workforce development program a part of the Sharing Center in Longwood, Fla. A graduation ceremony was held for a class of individuals who completed the course on Feb.7 at 1 p.m. in the Ad dition Financial Lake Mary operations center.
ProjectRISE is a program designed to empower unemployed or underemployed individuals to se cure meaningful employment and achieve eco nomic self-sufficiency, according to the project’s mission on their website.
Looking at the project’s details, in the first four weeks of the program, participants engage in in tensive classroom instruction focused on emo tional intelligence, critical soft skills, job acquisition strategies and workplace readiness.
In the final week of the project’s description, participants are given mock interviews with em ployers and gain valuable real-world feedback and networking opportunities. Also, throughout the last week participants are exposed to trade and ed ucation resources, helping the individuals explore different pathways to further career development.
Many classes of this program are available throughout this next year and you can find their start dates on the project’s homepage.
Addition Financial has worked with ProjectRISE since the program’s inception in 2022. Holton T. Mills works in Community Engagement and Part nerships at Addition Financial, and he spoke about the ways they help individuals over at ProjectRISE kick start their financial awareness.
“So, we started the financial education for all the individuals going through the classes and we actually offer them bank accounts too,” said Mills. “The bank accounts that we offer are completely free, with no minimum balance or monthly main tenance fee.”
Mills continued to say that Additional Financial will then mail everything to the participant’s home address and give them $100 in their savings ac count to get them started.
For the lessons on financial literacy, Mills said that they go over the basics of checking and savings. The biggest thing they teach par ticipants is about overdraft protection and how to avoid incurring those types of fees.
“A lot of these folks, they might have been burned from a financial institution or might think that they’re truly under banked, and it is so important for them to have a relationship with someone in the banking organization,” said Mills.
Another important person who is a part of this mission is Michelle Smith, a board chair member for the Sharing Center. Smith talked about the unique work the Sharing Center is doing along with ProjectRISE.
“What we do at the Sharing Center is very unique. We’re the largest comprehensive serv ice provider in Seminole County, we’re help ing people survive, we’re helping them thrive and we’re also working hard to prevent them from being homeless,” said Smith.
In this project of the Sharing Center, partici pants are matched with a success coach who provides ongoing support and guidance to navigate the professional landscape effective ly.
Smith discussed the purpose of this one-on one mentoring for participants.
“Everybody needs someone to talk to and by having a mentor, we give folks that are coming through ProjectRISE the ability to talk to someone that can really relate to what they’re going through and also give them the benefit of their experience,” said Smith.
Smith also mentioned that she is extremely grateful for Addition Financial and their con tributions. Smith said Addition Financial is helping to put a spotlight on what the Sharing Center and ProjectRISE are doing.
Vicky Norton is a graduate from ProjectRISE and she said that the program helped remind her of who she really was.
“So, all in all, these people reminded me of who I was,” said Norton. “I’m not gonna have to worry about ever being homeless again, because I know I got this now, because of these people and the things they taught me.”
Norton said her future is going back into the workforce as a caregiver and working to open her own business.
Graduates spent the rest of the evening tak ing pictures with family and giving their goodbyes to other fellow classmates.
For information about joining the program or if interested in partnering with ProjectRISE, you can visit https://thesharingcenter.org/projectrise/.
