NEW HANOVER COUNTY — In an effort to remove obstacles and offer another branch of support in target areas, Port City United is connecting adults to higher education.
READ MORE: County’s PCU Connect provides an outlet for families in need
PCU — a New Hanover County department that launched in April 2022 to curb violence — started a Connected to Education, Employment and Entrepreneurship Program to help individuals register for and complete one of 132 trades and training programs at Cape Fear Community College at no cost. It’s one of multiple initiatives PCU oversees, including placing community resource officers to assist in high-risk schools and opening a 24/7 call center to connect individuals with resources, such as food, housing, utility payments, transportation and more.
“It’s great to offer opportunities for people in project communities or that come from tough backgrounds, an opportunity to build their education,” PCU director Rashad Gattison said last week, “to make themselves more attractive for the working community.”
Gattison was named director of PCU in May after founding director Cedric Harrison was let go earlier in the winter.
“There’s a lot of people that want to do better, but there’s barriers stopping them,” Gattison added.
This could include not being able to work and attend classes simultaneously, unable to afford childcare, lack of transportation or struggling overall financially. The CTE3 program will cover the cost of tuition for certification classes at CFCC, as well as provide participants with a monthly stipend.
The stipend amount is dependent upon household size and earned income, Gattison said, and supplements current income to cover some of those barriers, such as paying for childcare.
“It’s what PCU was created for,” Gattison said, “to help residents of the community become sustainable so they can be successful.”
He added that includes providing tools to care for their families and create financial stability in households.
“One of the ways to accomplish this is by helping them see paths they hadn’t previously considered and offering them an opportunity to follow that path without restrictions,” Gattison said.
Obtaining a certification makes them more appealing to the workforce and offers the chance to obtain better paying jobs.
Through PCU Connect, staff will provide transportation for those who might need it, personally driving them to a location if need be.
“If it’s going to make our participants successful, then we’re willing to do our part to help them overcome the barriers,” Gattison said.
Having quietly launched in August, the program had 10 people submit applications. Participants entering are required to have a GED or high school diploma.
Once admitted, adult students are assigned one of 13 PCU case workers, who provides one-on-one assistance from the beginning of the process through completion of a training program. Gattison said the case management load might deter some people — adding even more work to a busy schedule — but he encourages them to stick with it.
“It’s not going to be easy but it’s definitely going to be worth it,” Gattison said.
PCU has allocated $250,000 to assist with the CTE program; the number of participants it can support is not identified. Gattison noted some organizations have reached out with a desire to partner and assist financially for certain certifications.
One such organization is Cape Fear Literacy Council, providing personalized education to adults through literacy development and language skills. It offers volunteer tutors to assist adult learners with a multitude of skills including reading and writing, math, computer skills and studying for a college or military exam.
CFLC Community Outreach Program Assistant Simone Stenson reached out to PCU resources coordination liaison Jarrett Gattison via email about collaborating.
“We definitely think us supporting your [CTE] program is a natural fit,” she wrote Aug. 24, scheduling a time to meet and discuss partnering on the program.
Stenson also offered marketing materials for the PCU office on Cape Fear Literacy’s ESL and adult education programs, as well as ensuring the nonprofit is on PCU Connect’s list of resources for referrals.
CFCC will also assist PCU in identifying students that could fit the program and support them through the courses. College staff will prepare them with needed workforce training skills before moving onto a career.
“We believe that education should be accessible to everyone,” CFCC president Jim Morton said, “and this initiative demonstrates our community’s commitment to making quality education and workforce training a reality for everyone.”
Gattison said PCU is still vetting applicants to ensure they meet the criteria, including living within 1 mile of impact zones.
Last year, PCU identified seven impact schools — International School of Gregory, Snipes Academy of Art and Design, Forest Hills Global Elementary, Rachel Freeman School of Engineering, DC Virgo Preparatory Academy, Williston Middle School and New Hanover High School — based on academic growth, bullying and harassment incidents and violent crime.
PCU’s community resource officers work with students and families in these schools to ensure academic success and help link them with needed resources. They provide case management to interrupt potential negative live outcomes.
READ MORE: Port City United takes next step in school resource plan
The schools are located in areas where 40% of the population resides below the 200% federal poverty level. For a family of four, that includes households earning below $60,000 per year.
ShotSpotter — which alerts law enforcement when gunshots are fired — reported more than 100 incidents from September 2020 to September 2021 for the 1,000-foot barrier around New Hanover High, Gregory and Willison Middle.
The demographics of individuals in these target areas are who PCU is trying to help achieve success.
Of the 10 applicants for the CTE program, Gattison said most are people PCU worked with previously, either through the department’s 24/7 hotline or with its community resource officers, assigned to high-risk students at the seven identified schools.
As of June 2023, more than 5,100 cases had been opened by the connect center since a year prior, averaging 14 cases per day. Of those, 957 were opened by the mediation and outreach team, which goes into high-risk areas and intervenes in conflict before gun violence escalates.
PCU has had a 96% success rate out of almost 90 team interventions over the last year. As a result, it led to a 25% reduction in weapon-related calls to 911 and a 14% reduction in 911 calls related to domestic incidents, within PCU’s target areas, according to stats Gattison shared with county commissioners this summer.
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