[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 26, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E448-E449]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 HONORING TRI-COUNTY WORKFORCE ALLIANCE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, March 26, 2014

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor a 
remarkable Community Organization, Tri-County Workforce Alliance in 
Clarksdale, Mississippi.
  Tri-County Workforce Alliance, serving the counties of Bolivar, 
Coahoma, and Quitman originally with the addition of Sunflower and 
Tallahatchie counties in 2011, in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, 
is a non-profit organization funded originally by the Foundation for 
the Mid South through Pew Charitable Trust and the Walton Foundation.
  The Alliance chose its first and only executive director, Mrs. 
Josephine P. Rhymes, in 1997. The Alliance did not have a 501(c)3 
status; however it had as the lead organization, the Coahoma County 
Industrial Foundation, that did have the exempt status. In 2002, the 
Alliance received their 501(c)3 status and its fiscal agent at present 
is Coahoma Community College.
  The Tri-County Workforce Alliance's mission is to improve the quality 
of life for people living in the three counties by promoting long-term 
economic and community development and by building a competitive 
healthy workforce through education and job training.
  Through collaborative efforts with other agencies with a similar 
mission, Tri-County Alliance worked to support and enhance their 
efforts through technical support and programs and assistance with 
alternative funding efforts through a strong mini-grant program. They 
made available the resources of the Enterprise Corporation of the 
Delta, which offered hands-on assistance to new and existing businesses 
in this region in three program areas: technical assistance, 
development finance, and private sector purchasing.
  Tri-County Workforce Alliance is an organization that is made up of 
people from many racial, social, and economic groups of the tri-county 
area, working together to find positive solutions to the individual 
needs of two special groups of citizens: Future Workforce members are 
youth in high school, junior high or middle school who need a solid 
academic foundation or may wish to transition from high school to the 
workforce; and Out-of-Workforce members are adults and youth who have 
been unemployed for a long time, receive public assistance, or who do 
not work on a regular basis.
  The Alliance has been successful in that it has bridged the gap 
between communities, between businesses and educational institutions 
and has enhanced educational and training strategies for the workforce, 
thus enabling the Alliance to leverage additional funds from other 
foundations, local, state and federal government and the private 
sector.
  Through partnerships with other organizations and agencies, Tri-
County Workforce Alliance has had success with: the Summer Enrichment 
Program in Reading and Math, which assisted 165 at-risk 4th, 5th and 
6th graders in the Clarksdale Municipal School District; the Intensive 
Youth Supervision Program, which assisted 60 youth offenders; and the 
Parent Rallies, which was designed to help parents understand their 
roles and responsibilities in the education of their children.

[[Page E449]]

  This was in collaboration with the ten school districts in the tri-
county area: Carpentry for Youth which provided carpentry instruction 
for youth who have built such things as bookcases, park benches, 
porches, a playhouse for a health clinic, doghouses, entertainment 
centers, etc.; Carpentry for Women which was a free training program 
for unemployed/underemployed women 18 years old and above and other 
support services such as childcare and transportation were provided for 
each participant who showed a need.
  The organization is published in the Insight Center for Community 
Economic Development's ``Building Economic Stability for Mississippi 
Families'' (June, 2010). The Job Resource and Career Fair is sponsored 
for unemployed, underemployed citizens, high school seniors, and those 
people interested in a career change. CHOICES was another program to 
help curb the dropout rate. It was offered to 7th and 8th graders in 
the schools in the tri-county area. With the Mini-Grant Program Tri-
County awarded grants in the amount of up to $2,000 to community-based 
organizations, schools, business, etc. for workforce preparation and 
workforce development.
  These funds have funded programs such as: computer training, teen 
parent job training, Hospice Care homemakers training, sweet potato 
growers training, youth employment training, personal development and 
job etiquette training, cultural enrichment, education rallies, 
vegetable processing training, hot tamale processing training, 
hospitality training, executive housekeeping training, child care 
certification training, ex-offenders job training skills, job 
enhancement skills training, education site visits, welfare recipient 
summits, business development workshops career-pathing seminars and 
legislative forums; the High School Mentoring Program, is a mentoring 
program offered to at-risk academic and social 9th-12th graders at 
Coahoma Agricultural High School, one of our local high schools. The 
Groundhog Job Shadow Day has been held for the past eight years for 
7th-12th graders in Coahoma County, and for the past four years in 
Bolivar and Quitman Counties. Students spend one day in the world of 
work. There has been two students who won the Mike Moore Scholarship in 
the amount of $500 each. As a result of this activity, students have 
gotten after school jobs, a full-tuition scholarship and a book 
allotment totaling $2,000 is awarded to a freshman student who has 
maintained a 2.8 average in high school and has an interest in 
vocational/technical education at Coahoma Community College. Emphasis 
is placed on interested non-traditional students: Industry Education 
Day is a program designed to improve the working relationship between 
business, industry and education for improved economic development; 
After School Tutorial Programs is a program designed for tutoring in 
mathematics and reading with cultural and survival components for two 
schools' 4th, 5th, and 6th graders who are at risk of academic failure; 
Workforce Public Policy Initiative assists to develop policy that 
promotes opportunities to construct, implement, and evaluate a 
framework that is comprehensive and participatory in nature; assists 
people in preparing for pursuit of living with wage jobs to improve 
livelihood security and quality of life and to create a model program 
that can be used as a demonstration to influence public policy.

  This program resulted in the development of a professionalization 
curriculum that is sanctioned by employers and potential employees; 
Pathways to Collaboration is a workgroup with four other organizations 
to examine the success of and create a means of communicating to the 
world the special value of our collaborative process of engaging people 
who are directly experiencing problems in the community by problem 
solving.
  Chosen as one of the seven originals from 764 applicants Tri-County 
Workforce Alliance has completed a study and the results have been 
published in a book entitled: ``Engaging thc Community in Decision 
Making: Case Studies Tracking Participation, Voice and Influence'' by 
Roz Diane Lasker and John A. Guidry, McFarland & Company, Inc. 
Publishers. High School Mentorship Program in Health Care Professions 
is a program for 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students in Bolivar, 
Coahoma, Quitman, Sunflower and Tallahatchie counties who have express 
an interest in the health profession. The program has an individual 
mentor component for on the job shadowing for 60 hours and a two week 
Summer Institute with advanced studies in science, math, english/
reading and critical thinking/analysis.
  This program is a step program that leads into dual enrollment in the 
community college's RN or CNA or phlebotomy programs in the 12th grade; 
An Academy of Science, Reading and Mathematics for Potential Health 
Care Professionals in a program opened to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders in 
Coahoma and Quitman counties who express an interest in health care 
professions. A four-week summer institute is held where students do 
intensive study of science, reading and mathematics and health 
disparities. The students dissect animal organs (heart and kidney) to 
learn the parts of the body that are affected by the diseases. They 
work with doctors to create a wellness program for family members with 
the disease.
  The Alliance is deeply embedded in the communities that it serves. It 
is helping to create change by crossing all boundaries--geographical, 
political, ethnical, age, and socio-economic. Its goal is to continue 
to develop a network of agencies and individuals to provide ongoing 
strategic planning, innovative programs and leveraging local, state, 
federal and foundation funds.
  Tri-County Workforce Alliance is governed by a 25-member board made 
up of representatives from government, business and industry, 
educational institutions (high school, junior college and four year 
colleges), community-based organizations, youth, and grassroots 
individuals, representing the three counties. Elected officers 
included: Charles Barron, Chairman; George Walker (deceased), Co-
Chairman, Elizabeth Johnson, Treasurer and Shirley Morgan, Secretary. 
Other Board members include: Charles Reid, Priscilla Sharpe, Glenn 
Adams, W.J. Jones, Earnestine Keys, Aurelia Jones-Taylor, Kenisha 
Shelton, Dorothy Prestwich, Suzanne Walton, Leonia Adams from Coahoma 
County; Lillie V. Davis, Mary Towner, Hubert Owten, Victor Richardson, 
Mamie White, Pearlie Owten, Irma Bell, Lister Bowdoin from Quitman 
County; and Eulah Peterson, Roger Carter and Jordan Goins from Bolivar 
County.
  Currently, an executive director, Josephine P. Rhymes, since 1997 and 
an administrative assistant, Harold Jones, since 2009 are the only 
full-time staff and there are seven part-time program staff members. 
Tri-County has also formed some very wholesome partnerships with other 
organizations that have similar missions and they provide them with the 
use of facilities, staff, technical assistance and funds.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing an amazing 
Community Organization for their dedication for change and equality.

                          ____________________