Sanders Announces $4.3 million to Vermont Nonprofit to Boost Job Training for Low-Income Seniors

Sanders Announces $4.3 million to Vermont Nonprofit to Boost Job Training for Low-Income Seniors

BURLINGTON, Vt., Oct. 20 – U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) announced Thursday that the U.S. Department of Labor awarded $4.3 million to a St. Albans-based nonprofit, Vermont Associates for Training and Development, to expand their efforts to provide job training and employment services for low-income seniors.

In addition to helping Vermonters, the boost in federal funding will allow Vermont Associates for Training and Development to replicate their employment services program in Maine and throughout large swaths of New York and Pennsylvania.

The funding announced Thursday was authorized as part of the Older Americans Act, which provides critical social and nutrition services for seniors in Vermont and throughout the United States. Sanders has called for significantly increasing funding for Older Americans Act programs and helped lead congressional efforts to reauthorize the law earlier this year.

“A nation is judged by how it cares for its most vulnerable,” Sanders said. “Seniors should have the support available to them to remain in their homes and communities. They deserve to live with dignity and with a sense of security. The Older Americans Act helps to provide that.”

Vermont Associates for Training and Development, which has provided training and employment services to nearly 2,000 low-income seniors since 2012, partners with organizations such as Leading Age and the Visiting Nurse Association, as well as educational institutions, transportation agencies, medical facilities and private sector employers.

“Through job training, this program helps provide seniors with much needed income and adds millions of dollars to the economy in Vermont and across the country. I am pleased Vermont Associates for Training and Development received this award and I will continue to fight for increased funding for all Older Americans Act programs,” Sanders said.

The St. Albans nonprofit is one of 19 grant recipients that will receive a total of more than $140 million in federal funding for job training and community service programs.

To read the U.S. Department of Labor announcement, click here.