Brooklyn Park and the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota are embarking on a unique partnership of sorts.
The Brooklyn Park Economic Development authority approved a $117,770 program proposal submitted by the Organization of Liberians in Minnesota (OLM) to provide training and job search assistance for 60 Brooklyn Park residents. OLM will train 50 residents to be certified nursing assistants and 10 people for medication aide training. Training would be open to all Brooklyn Park residents, regardless of ethnic background.
“Our concept to create this program so community members can sustain themselves and their family. For every one person who is trained, three people will eat,” explained Kamaty Diahn, executive director of the OLM in his presentation to the EDA.
Diahn told EDA members the parable of instead of giving people fish, the program is teaching people to fish. The OLM says the pandemic has impacted its organization because it lost its main source of revenue — the facility rental hall — at the same time it saw an increased need from community members. OLM primarily serves the West African community, which has been greatly impacted by the pandemic.
“People need to sustain themselves,” said Diahn. “Many have lost jobs. One of the industries that survived the pandemic was the health care industry.”
The OLM will help recruit and screen applicants, send them to three medical training schools that are in Brooklyn Park or Brooklyn Center, JJ School of Technology, North Metro Health Institute and North American Medical Academy. T
hen, it will facilitate a job fair and check up on program graduates, with a goal of 75 percent of applicants working in the field at six months past graduation.
According to a report the timeline for the program is immediate. A project coordinator will be hired in May, with most participants completing job training in the summer months.
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