A Goodwill program that provides workforce training and employment to low-income seniors is accepting applications following a brief pause last year.
Called the Senior Community Service Employment Program, it’s funded by the federal Department of Labor. Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana administers the program in Indianapolis.
Applications for the program have been open since November, Goodwill spokesperson Charnay Evans said in a statement to Mirror Indy.
Get the backstory
The program paused applications after its federal funding was frozen last summer as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to cut spending. The senior employment program has yet to secure funding past June.
A recent bipartisan budget bill would give the Department of Labor $395 million to fund the program nationwide, a $10 million decrease from the previous year. As of Jan. 27, that legislation has not passed.
“Regardless of future funding, we’re focused on our current participants and offering them the support and job readiness they need,” Evans said in her emailed statement, in part.
Learn more and apply
To apply for the senior employment program, you must be at least 55 years old, unemployed and make no more than $19,950 annually as a single person, per federal poverty guidelines.
Priority is given to people who meet certain criteria, including veterans, those with disabilities and seniors over the age of 65.
You can apply online using this form. For more information or to request a paper application, call 317-524-4360.
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Claire Rafford covers higher education for Mirror Indy in partnership with Open Campus. Contact Claire by email claire.rafford@mirrorindy.org, at 317-759-0249 or on most social media @clairerafford.
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