WORKFORCE
Staff and volunteers at the New Mexico 50+ Employment Connection in Santa Fe work to find jobs for individuals age 50 and older. From left to right are staff member Dorothy Lopez, volunteer Georgia Larson, Kelly Smith, a veteran's representative with the Department of Workforce Solutions, and volunteer Sue Fenimore.
Overview of Projects to Benefit the New Mexico Workforce
Nearly $148 million will come to New Mexico to provide summer youth jobs, increase unemployment benefits and modernize New Mexico's unemployment insurance claims and tax system.
Examples of programs include summer youth employment programs, extra training for dislocated workers, and services to help unemployed New Mexicans boost their education or skills in order to reenter the workforce.
Unemployed New Mexicans have also seen a $25 weekly benefit increase courtesy of the Recovery Act.
These funds will help strengthen New Mexico's workforce and help families weather the recession.
WORKFORCE PROJECT
Summer Youth Employment Program
Funding Recipient: Four Local Workforce Development Boards
Award: $5.26 million
Location: Statewide
Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Labor
In April 2009, more than $5.26 million in Workforce Investment Act funds were distributed to four local workforce development boards to conduct a summer youth employment program. The program provided subsidized employment to youth who have barriers to employment. The program ran from May through September 30, 2009.
Participants gain real-time work experience in the public and private sector. Youth also participated in work readiness courses teaching about timeliness, attendance, appropriate dress, resume writing, and interviewing skills.
Statewide, 1,709 youth, ages 14-24, participated. Regionally,
- 354 youth participated in the north;
- 529 youth participated in the southwest;
- 476 participated in the central region;
- 350 youth participated in the east.
Source: New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions
RECOVERY DOLLARS AT WORK
EL MORRO, NM – The road to the Old School Gallery is beautiful, and hard – dust storms and winding roads, Ponderosa pines and a steady climb over the snowy Continental Divide.
Out here, Paula Tripodi has created an oasis for arts in rugged Western New Mexico. She acknowledges that the gallery, near El Morro National Monument, is isolated.
“That's why we're important,” she said.
The Old School Gallery is a one-stop community and arts center for a remote part of Western New Mexico – Ramah, Zuni Pueblo, El Morro and the surrounding rural community of ranchers, artists, and farmers.
The Gallery provides a central performance space for plays, music, arts classes and other community meetings as needed – from morning yoga to summer arts classes for local kids.
Tripodi was wrapping up a student art show during a visit in April 2010, and preparing for a new show. A paper-mâché piece “Bull Rider” from Ramah Elementary School was among the award winners.
A quick glance at the calendar of the newsletter she produces shows a crammed schedule, with an event at the gallery nearly every day of the week. The newsletter, incidentally, also serves as a local newspaper of sorts, with news and community announcements.
Tripodi said the gallery's budget has clearly taken a hit – along with the rest of the economy – in recent years. That's when the El Morro Area Arts Council applied for a grant from the New Mexico Arts, a division of the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs, funded by the National Endowment for the Arts
“Like everywhere else, financially, the last couple of years have been really really tight,” Tripodi said.
The Recovery Act has helped support her salary since October 2009. It's definitely helped she said, or her hours would have been cut. She's paid part-time, but puts in more hours than that.
Tripodi said higher gas prices and the overall economy have also put a pinch to the organization's budget.
“The last couple of years, visitations to the area just seem to be down,” she said.
Some of the summer art teachers, for example, used to receive stipends from the council. But donations and sales are down, so they offered to teach the classes for free in 2009.
Encouraging children to get involved in the arts is clearly an important task for the El Morro Area Arts Council.
“It's getting to where those things aren't generally offered,” Tripodi said of arts in the public schools. “…Arts can fall by the wayside.”
Tripodi has served as the gallery's executive director for the past five years. She's moving on to another job now, but, said she's had a great opportunity to get to know local students and artists, and help people connect to one another. The Recovery Act will continue to support the salary of her replacement.
The El Morro Area Arts Council was founded in 1998 by local artists who wanted a venue for their own work, and to support arts in the community.
For more information, please visit www.oldschoolgallery.org.
