Skyland Workforce Center Celebrates 10th Anniversary and Ribbon Cutting

Skyland Workforce Center celebrated its 10^th anniversary and “Homecoming” on Oct. 3, marking its move to a new location at Skyland Town Center.

Nearly 100 people, including former DC Mayor Anothny Williams, attended to commemorate the occasion and congratulate 17 DC residents who had just completed the Center’s signature construction training class, which offers students certification in OSHA-30, CPR and flagging.

This was the 36^th cohort of students to take the class.

Also on hand was Damon Donelson-Bey, an alumnus of the construction class, who addressed the graduates and other attendees. Donelson-Bey is a returning citizen and recounted how the Workforce Center helped guide him upon his release, offering the education, resume writing support and professional clothing for interviews.

He now works as a mentor for the nonprofit organization Life Pieces to Masterpieces.

Now a program of Building Bridges Across the River, the Center primarily serves residents of Wards 7 & 8. It has placed more than 1,000 people in jobs and helped nearly 8,000 clients since 2014.

WC Smith and Rappaport founded the Center in 2014 as an employment training resource for DC residents who were seeking construction jobs for Skyland Town Center, which had broken ground earlier that year.