Great untapped pool of talent': Old Dominion Job Corps program celebrates 60 years
See story at The News & Advance...Sixty years to the day when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Center Act, legislation that formed Job Corps centers throughout the country, the Old Dominion Job Corps in Amherst County celebrated the milestone with a filled room of Lynchburg area supporters.
“Sixty years as an organization, think about that,” James Davis, business community liaison for the Old Dominion Job Corps, said during the Aug. 20 celebration lunch. “Millions of at-risk youth have gone through this program in most states."
The program is still impacting youth and much needed for the country's future and serving society through the trades, Davis said.
Several students at the Job Corps campus of more than 300 acres on Father Judge Road in Monroe greeted those who gathered for the lunch. Davis said the center has a tremendous student government association team who were part of the event.
“We just appreciate everything that you do for us,” Ferguson told the crowd.
Tours were given at the Aug. 20 event of the many trades the center provides, including automotive technician, building construction, carpentry, electrical, plumbing, certified medical and nursing assistants, pharmacy tech and security.
The Monroe campus, which boasts scenic views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, is located on a site that prior to Job Corps settling there in 1978 was the Father Judge Mission Seminary. The federal tuition-free education and job training program for at-risk youth administered by the U.S. Department of Labor is among more than 100 of its kind across the country.
Since 1964, Job Corps has provided free vocational training for young people ages 16 to 24 years old who are below the poverty level. On Aug. 20, 1964, President Johnson signed into law the inclusive bill that created a number of national programs, including the preschool Head Start program and the vocational-training program Job Corps.
Bryan Lyttle, Old Dominion Job Corps Center director, said the support of many organizations and agencies throughout the Lynchburg area is crucial for its success.
“We couldn’t do this without our community partners,” Lyttle told the crowd. “We need you guys involved working with us, helping our students. If it hadn’t been for the support that we had from our community, we wouldn’t have made it 60 years.”
He said Job Corps struggles in some communities with a lack of outside support, which limits success of students in those areas.
“We are not in that situation — we have a lot of community support, we have a lot of help and a lot of options for our students,” Lyttle said.
The Amherst County-based program has come a long way and changed a lot over the course of decades, Lyttle said. It went from a military boot camp-style school to a sort of second chance prison release program to a voluntary program that gives young people across the nation a change in direction, he said.
“When they come to rural Amherst County, they are willing to make a change,” Lyttle said. “It takes time, it’s not always fun. Our students have some challenges as they learn how to get along in small quarters, lots of people in a room at a time and sometimes challenging classes … they are willing to do it and willing to make that change because they see that outcome with the program.”
Five dormitories are under construction that hopefully will double the population of students, he said.
“We are looking forward to getting back to full capacity,” Lyttle said. “It is definitely a challenge, we went through COVID where we were down as low at one point to 16 students.”
After operating virtually for a period, the center gradually got back up to 35 students, then reached just shy of 60 and now is at 75 students, according to Lyttle. The campus is preparing to serve 165 students, he said.
Amherst County Public Schools Superintendent William Wells said the division appreciates the partnership with Job Corps over the years. Since the pandemic, Wells said Amherst schools are trying to find more ways to partner so some students, especially those in alternative education programs, can get access to vocational training and career pathways.
“We look forward to getting some of our students more involved with the program,” Wells said.
Amherst County Sheriff Jimmy Ayers, a lifelong county resident, said he’s seen the Amherst program from its beginning, its growth throughout the years and resources it provides to young people from all over the world who learn skills and talents they take with them. He thanked all those who make those resources and student achievements possible.
“To the students here today, thank you for the assets that you will be in the communities of where you wind up and what you take from [Job Corps] and from Amherst County and you take it other communities and make a difference,” Ayers said.
L.T. Guthrie, a Campbell County Sheriff’s Office investigator, said Job Corps has done an amazing job of preparing young people for life as adults, imparting skills and knowledge and providing them role models to learn from.
John Capps, president of Central Virginia Community College, said it is an honor to partner with an organization that makes such a “profound, transformational difference” in the lives of youth. Courtney Camden, career coach for CVCC’s workforce Fast Forward programs, said her father, Stark Camden, was the first residential adviser for Job Corps’ Monroe campus in 1979.
Del. Tim Griffin, who represents Amherst County in the Virginia General Assembly, also attended and thanked Job Corps for what it does for youth. He said he is touring nonprofits and businesses throughout the House 53 district, which includes portion of Nelson and Bedford counties, to learn more about needs throughout its communities.
Tamara Rosser, CEO of Lynchburg Community Action Group, Inc., said she was encouraged by a student’s story she heard during the lunch of how the program helped him in learning the trade of plumbing. She encouraged young people enrolled there to keep doing the right thing and pursuing success.
“If those stories are shared every day with anybody, this place would be filled,” Rosser said.
Tori Gilmartin, director of talent and workforce development for the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance, said she loves the partnership with Job Corps and its work to ensure teenagers and young adults find opportunities and help meet area employers’ workforce needs.
Other speakers spoke of the program’s importance in meeting the pipeline of the local workforce and the high starting hourly wages they can earn from trades such as a machinist.
Sherie Fulcher, personnel development coordinator for Southern Air Inc., told employers in the room the Old Dominion Job Corps boasts “a great untapped pool of talent.”
“Come here first,” Fulcher said of recruiting workers. “There’s some really talented individuals here that you can not only provide appointments for but even help change a life.”
