Job Corps recognizes resident commissioner as a ‘champion’

Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón was honored by the National Job Corps Association this week.

By The Star Staff

The National Job Corps Association this week highlighted Resident Commissioner Jenniffer González Colón’s commitment to Job Corps centers, and called her its champion for advocating for their funding, including securing funds for the rebuilding of centers on the island and supporting them in the program’s initiatives.

“The Ramey Aguadilla and Arecibo Job Corps program are very grateful for [Resident] Commissioner González’s support in Congress in Washington, D.C.,” said the directors of the two Job Corps centers in Puerto Rico, Miguelina Torres of the Arecibo Center and Osvaldo Ubiña of the Ramey Center in Aguadilla, in a written statement issued Thursday.

Both were at an event held earlier this week in the U.S. capital where the resident commissioner was recognized with a certificate.

“Job Corps programs are so necessary for the youth in Puerto Rico, not only for their education and technical training, but for the rebuilding of Puerto Rico,” Torres and Ubiña said in their statement. “In the 30 years that we have been working with youth and in Job Corps Programs, we are so proud of so many young people who have benefited from it. Thank you, resident commissioner, for your unconditional support.”

González Colón noted that the “Job Corps plays a vital role in providing an opportunity for participants to become economically independent and self-sufficient members of the workforce who contribute to their local economies.”

“I believe in the Job Corps program and that’s why I support it,” she said. “I’ve seen the work in the two centers in Puerto Rico where they both play a fundamental role in their communities. I want to thank the National Job Corps Association for this recognition, Miguelina and Osvaldo for their incredible commitment and commendable work, and I will continue to advocate in Congress for the programs as I have done in recent years.”

Last May, the resident commissioner inaugurated the new facilities of the Arecibo Job Corps Center. With a federal investment of $40 million, the new construction replaces many of the center’s academic, administrative and training buildings.