Union County – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce that the County has been awarded nearly $1 million as part of a National Emergency Grant, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) and the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development, that will hire unemployed Union County residents to assist with Hurricane Sandy clean-up and recovery efforts.
“The Freeholder Board is happy to not only be able to provide an additional layer of aid to some of our hardest hit communities; but we are even more pleased that in the wake of Sandy’s devastating blow, we can find a way to progressively move forward by creating jobs for those members of our community that need them most,” said Freeholder Chairman Alexander Mirabella.
The grant award, which is the equivalent of 58 positions, is part of a larger $15.6 million award that was given to the State by the USDOL to give temporary jobs to unemployed residents through local government agencies that need to restore public lands and infrastructure.
In addition to work directly related to post-Sandy clean up, these jobs may also include working on projects that provide food, clothing, shelter and other humanitarian assistance for disaster victims.
The duration of employment is limited to 6 months or 1,040 hours, and a maximum wage of $12,000 per worker, excluding fringe benefits, can be earned.
“The County Workforce Investment Board is working closely with municipalities and non-profit agencies in identifying how and where we can deploy workers,” said Mirabella. “We are hopeful that through these grant dollars we can put hundreds of residents to work.”
Applicants eligible for employment through National Emergency Grant funding are:
- Workers who have been temporarily or permanently dislocated as a result of the disaster;
- Eligible dislocated workers who are unemployed and not receiving unemployment compensation (UI) or other types of income support (such as WorkFirst NJ)
- Individuals who are long-term unemployed
Union County will be implementing the grant through the One-Stop Career Center, which will assist in determining individuals who are eligible, and deploying them to fill the specified temporary jobs.
For additional information, or to find out if you qualify for temporary employment under the requirements of the N.J. Department of Labor, contact the Elizabeth One-Stop Career Center at 908-558-8005, or the Plainfield One-Stop Career Center at 908-757-9090.
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For more information on any Union County press release, please contact Sebastian D’Elia, Communications Director for the County of Union, or a designee listed at the top of this press release. Please join the County of Union online at www.ucnj.org, on Facebook at www.ucnj.org/facebook, and on Twitter athttp://twitter.com/countyofunionnj.