There are many organizations and entities that are a part of the workforce system in Spokane, including private businesses, education and training providers, career development services like WorkSource Spokane, fellow workforce-minded non-profits, labor, city and county government, and chambers of commerce and economic development agencies.
The Spokane Workforce Council (SWC) links the system together by acting as a default workforce HQ. In addition to the government funding that sometimes come with limitations, their community-wide efforts are aimed at developing strategic partnerships and coordinating efforts to achieve greater positive impacts that meet the needs of diverse and under-served communities.
The SWC became a non-profit 10 years ago and found that private funds from community partners positions their education, career, and training centers to serve many people and businesses, and do it as flexibly as possible. During the COVID pandemic, the SWC widened their net and received relief funds for rental assistance to help keep families in their homes. They are currently working on a solution to the workforce challenges of the childcare industry, including support for providers and families struggling with care.
“We have our core workforce programming, but we have found the needs of our customers to be higher than ever, so are working hard to expand access to support services like housing and childcare that are really crucial to people getting and keeping jobs”, stated Jessica Clayton, SWC’s Program Development Director.
Spokane County United Way has been a vital community partner to Spokane’s local workforce system. Like the SWC, they also rely on local companies, and individual donors to positively impact the health, education, and financial stability of people living right here in our community.
Clayton adds, “Spokane is a community that has a strong history of collaboration for the greater good. John Dickson, President/CEO of Spokane County United Way, has been a partner of ours for more than eight years. They partner with us at our youth program, Next Generation Zone, and were one of the first private non-profits that stepped up in 2018 to help launch the Resource Center of Spokane County. I can’t overstate what the support of United Way means for the local workforce system.”
You can support United Way by going their website and using the donate button in the top right corner, or participate in their current donation campaign, “Workplace Giving”, by visiting their campaign page here.
If you would like to partner with the SWC to fund and develop vital initiatives that help advance workforce development services, please contact Jessica Clayton or COO Dawn Karber to discuss funding opportunities.
