MISSION, Ore.-Two recently awarded grants will help members of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) with job training and employment.
The two grants from Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC), worth a total of $52,500 in funding, were announced by the CTUIR on March 21.
The CTUIR’s Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) will use the grants, one for service-learning education and one for on-the-job training, to help members enhance their job skills and employment prospects.
“I am very excited for TERO training to be awarded these two grants for the youth in our area,” said Michelle Bratlie, TERO Apprenticeship Training Coordinator. “It enables training to continue for those youth who are wanting to enter the construction world for a career.”
TERO offers training and employment resources for CTUIR members, descendants and spouses, and the grants will allow the office to provide safety and health training, employment-related certifications and the opportunity for up to five weeks of paid training.
With the grant funding, TERO plans to focus on service-learning education first before ultimately getting participants on-the-job training where they can put those learned skills into action, according to a CTUIR press release on the grants.
“Participants can have the basic certifications needed for construction sites in this area and take advantage of the career opportunities they might not have had access to before going through the offered trainings,” Bratlie said.
Those who complete the training would be a step ahead when applying for union membership or for construction jobs, according to the CTUIR, and would be equipped with the knowledge base to make informed career decisions.
“The most important impact is that participants can choose what they want to do as a career and support their families with earning a good wage with benefits,” said Bratlie.
