The Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) recently received a $40,000 grant from the Capital One Foundation to support training and employment for home care aides in the Bronx.
The Foundation’s grant will support PHI’s home care aide training program conducted in collaboration with Cooperative Home Care Associated (CHCA), a worker-owned home care agency affiliated with PHI.
“We appreciate the Capital One Foundation’s support for our work to help community residents become successful home care aides, helping them transition into quality full-time jobs,” PHI President Jodi Sturgeon said in a written statement. “In partnership with Capital One Foundation, our program is reaching a greater number of unemployed women in New York City, maximizing its benefit in the Bronx and surrounding low-income communities.”
The program exemplifies the foundation’s philanthropic aims, which seek to provide support for education, financial literacy, and community development initiatives, said Jennifer Stredler, Senior Manager, Community Relations at Capital One.
Since 1985, PHI and CHCA have linked more than 8,000 New Yorkers with opportunities for high-quality employment. These individuals—primarily women of color, nearly all unemployed at enrollment—receive free, four-week home care aide training, with guaranteed employment for all who successfully complete the program. Today, CHCA employs more than 2,060 individuals, making it the largest worker-owned cooperative in the U.S.
The demand for home care services is growing nationally with 1.3 million new home care jobs expected to be created over the next decade.
With a targeted focus in the Bronx, PHI and CHCA aim to promote employment and job retention in neighborhoods with some of the highest sustained unemployment and poverty rates in the country.
More than 30% of Bronx residents live below the federal poverty line; the borough has a 10% unemployment rate. A majority of trainees report annual earnings of less than $5,000 in the year before enrollment — inclusive of public benefits. They go on to earn $10 per hour or more with access to a range of benefits and workforce supports, after successfully completing the training program.
“In addition to providing excellent home care aide training and opportunities for quality employment, we offer extensive benefits, peer support, and financial literacy services,” said CHCA President Michael Elsas. “In doing so, we help women to achieve economic independence for themselves and their families. We are also ensuring that low-income elders and people living with disabilities in our community receive high-quality home care services.”
Written by Cassandra Dowell
