SHALOM Denver Hosts Policy Maker Day

Last week, SHALOM Denver invited legislators to tour its job training site, talk with staff, and meet some of the people with disabilities who receive job training services.

With the passage of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act earlier this year, a policy framework was created to allow increased training; a framework that is currently being translated into on-the-ground action nationwide. SHALOM Denver staff wanted to share with legislators what they're currently doing to complement the recovery efforts in Colorado, talk more about what they could be doing, and figure out how SHALOM might work with legislators' offices to ensure that the capacity of community-based organizations such as SHALOM Denver are being fully utilized as a vehicle of training and education within our region and the country.

SHALOM Denver, like many other community-based organizations in the region, is working daily to prepare workers for jobs in growth industries in Colorado. Filling this gap is an integral component to ensuring our employers have the workers they need and the unemployed are learning skills that will get them a good job.

State Representative Jim Reisberg said of his visit to SHALOM, "It is so important to see what types of services are available to help folks develop feelings of importance and to know they have value and can become constructive citizens. We need to support and appreciate organizations like SHALOM Denver that make these programs available for people in our community." He adds, "To see programs like SHALOM Denver on paper is one thing, but to come in and actually see these programs at work and to see the people that they impact is so valuable and could even change how funding is allocated in the future."

Thank you to the following people for attending the open house: State Representative Jim Reisberg, Leanne Arrant of The Capstone Group, LLC, and Deborah 'Deb' Parsons, District Outreach and Federal Grants for Representative Diana DeGette's office.

SHALOM Denver was recently featured on KMGH-TV 7's Road to Recovery segment. Watch the video to learn more about how SHALOM Denver helps people with barriers to employment enter the workforce.