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DeKalb County has allocated $1 million to help residents who are both unemployed due to the pandemic and actively pursuing training in high-demand career fields.
DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond announced the initiative Tuesday morning, saying it will provide one-time payments of $1,500 to up to 650 people.
DeKalb residents who are 18 years or older, have lost their job due to the coronavirus pandemic and are currently attending a technical college or other institution for training in information technology, health care, advanced manufacturing or business technology will be eligible.
The money is intended to help qualifying students cover living expenses like rent, mortgage, food and transportation.
“Really it’s to incentivize and reward those who are seeking to enhance their skillset,” Thurmond said during Tuesday’s county commission meeting. “When people lose jobs, the human impulse is to look for a job exactly like the one I lost. But a significant percentage of the jobs that are lost are not coming back with the new economy.”
Funding for the initiative will come from the roughly $125 million in federal coronavirus aid that DeKalb County received earlier this year.
For more information on the initiative and other COVID-19 related DeKalb County resources in DeKalb County, click here, call 404-687-3400 or email dwprogram@dekalbcountyga.gov.
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