WASHPO: D.C. job-training program aims to open doors -- and minds

We have mentioned Raymond Bell and his HOPE Project for some time here on CHotR.  It is so wonderful to see them getting the recognition they so richly deserve! Programs like these are what need funding. They teach life skills in addition to job training - a wonderful combination. Kudos to Mr. Bell and his students.  They are a wonderful example of the hard work and preseverence of Ward 8.

Where there is a will  there is a way.

Go HERE to read the full Washington Post article.

Excerpt:

The fliers that Raymond Bell Jr. posted throughout the Barry Farm neighborhood held a few nuggets: free computer training, a career path and a possible starting salary of $30,000.


Might sound like a pittance to some, but Ryan Lemmon was all ears. He had been flipping burgers at a McDonald's for seven years when he met Bell last year. The prospect of getting ahead was tempting, especially since the training was free.

"He had me sold," Lemmon, 23, said of Bell's proposal. "I weighed my options and it would benefit me to spend a couple hours a night in class."

So Lemmon signed up for Bell's personal war to change the minds of skeptical residents and overcome a mountain of statistics telling him that the unemployment levels in neighborhoods such as Anacostia, Congress Heights and Kenilworth were intractable.

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