Training groups get provincial funding boost

Three projects designed to give job training to Winnipeg's inner city youth are receiving a financial leg up from the province.

JobWORKS on Ellice Avenue, the Housing Concerns Group and SEED Winnipeg will be sharing $144,000 over the next three years.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Jean Friesen made the latest announcements in the Neighbourhoods Alive! funding program Monday morning.

JobWORKS trains 30 youth from the inner city in construction and renovation skills. The program's coordinator, Robert Loiselle, says in November the group came together to renovate an old vacant building on Ellice to turn it into their training facility.

"Since then, we've built a 3,000 square foot shop or training facility, woodworking training facility, two classrooms, three offices, lunchroom, bathrooms, things like that," he says.

"Right now the building is 90 per cent complete in three months, basically, with kids from the Spence neighbourhood that we picked up and recruited."

Loiselle says before getting involved with JobWORKS, a lot of the young people in the program had no skills and had been in trouble with the law.

He says most are already using their skills and hoping to find work in the construction field.

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