New ECC program pays students to learn and work

Channeling Franklin Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, a new program at Elgin Community College aims to provide jobs and educate community members all at once.

The program, "Improving our Environment, Our Community and Ourselves," is offered by the college's workforce transitions department, and funded through nearly $400,000 in federal stimulus money provided through the Workforce Board of Northern Cook County and the Kane County Department of Employment and Education.

The summer program works with three groups - 16- to 18-year-olds still enrolled in high school; out of school 16- to 18-year-olds; and out-of-school adults, ages 19 to 24.

Participants are paid to work in community service positions 10 to 40 hours each week while taking classes focused on improving their skills and marketability.

Jobs include serving as greeters at area hospitals; working at Habitat for Humanity's ReStore warehouse in Elgin; and several public works, landscaping and office positions at the Village of Streamwood.

Teens enrolled in school will be working on green service projects, including restoration an old schoolhouse and a Dundee Township prairie conservation program, said Peggy Heinrich, ECC's adult education dean and the program's coordinator.

Pay is minimum wage or better, Heinrich said.

"If a place of employment pays higher than minimum wage at a certain job, we'll pay that," she said.

Participants shouldn't take the class side of the deal lightly, she warns. Individuals' class attendance is noted, and only those who show up for 80 percent or more of the classes offered will be paid.

For those with transportation difficulties, the program provides free bus passes, gas cards for those who drive, and rides in vans rented by the college.

To be accepted into the program, individuals must complete paperwork, and meet with a coordinator to go over eligibility guidelines. County officials then finalize that eligibility.

What job a person receives depends on his age and whether he reside in Kane or Cook County.

"Each (county) has slightly different things they'd like to fund and different parameters," Heinrich said.

Heinrich advises interested individuals to move fast.

"I think it's a great opportunity for some people to get good job experience and a good start," she said.

For more information, call (847) 214-6901.