Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 27 June 2003 — Page 2
PAGE A2
THE INDIANAPOLIS RECORDER
FRIDAY, JUNE 27, 2003
VISTA Center opens its doors to homeless veterans
AFRICA
By TASHAWNA WILLIAMS Recorder Intern According to National Coalition of Homeless Veterans, 1-out-of-1 homeless males isa veteran. Kxperts say on any given night there are 900 homeless veterans in Marion County. Kighty-ninepereent of those veterans have been honorably discharged. In an effort to trim those numbers, Veterans Inte-
grated Services Training for Achievement (VISTA)Center has opened its doors. “The center is very important because...we can take the veterans right off the street (and assist them),”said Maggie London Chicf Operations Officer of Hoosiers Veterans Assistance Foundation. VISTA Center is a center that serves several purposes. The center provides homes for homeless veterans, helps veterans find jobs.
and treats those who have suffered from drug and alcohol abuse. The center also helps veterans that suffer from mental illnesses. There is a process for residing in the VISTA Center, which currently has +0 beds. “When (the veterans) come to the VISTA Center they’re mainly here for assessment," said London. “Once they go through the treatment process, they’re able to stay in our houses
up to two years.” The rent is according to the individual's income. While there, men or women can find assistance that can relate to them. “1 was addicted to drugs and alcohol, as a result I lost my job, my place to live (and) my family,”said Dennis N. Jones, director of housing at Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation. Now, Jones is on his feet and is able to understand the people that
he comes in contact with. “It’s good that I went through that experience, because a lot of things that (the veterans) bring me, I’m able to identify with,” he said. The VISTA Center is located at 240 N. Warman Avenue, the former location of Central State Hospital. The center’s primary goal is to offer a service to the men and women who have served America.
STUDY
► Continued from Page 1 medical devices, also related research facilities. “The number of jobs are growing more rapidly in the health industry than other fields because the jobs arc not as attractive as they were historically,” said hange. "It is a female dominated profession and women have more options today.” Health industries are major Indiana employers. In 2000, they accounted for one in ten Indiana jobs and generated $11 billion in wages and employed over 277,000, the study says. The average pay in 2000 for health service jobs was $33,1.97 and $78,90.9 in medical manufacturing. The study says one reason for high average pay is that the critical occupations are those, which require workers with high level of technical or clinical skills, but not necessarily advanced degrees. There are many challenges that add to this workforce gap such as the mismatch between the number of workers who graduate from Indiana colleges and universities and the workforce demand of employers, medical manufactures value a worker’s experience as highly as their educational background. Employers in both health industries often site effective education and training programs are not distributed evenly around the state and are not located where employers are centered. IHIF recommends that em-
Indianapolis National Pan-Hellenic Council
ployers, educators, workforce development professionals and government officials work closely together to identify the most critically needed programs, assign high priority to those programs and provide resources to support the programs. IHIF also suggested employers should form employer learning networks, set industry standards for high school graduates and work with IHIF and state government agencies to improve the data collection and reporting systems. Government and workforce development agencies are suggested to support the creation of academic programs foremerging and evolving occupations, focus on strengthening math and science in K-12 schools and along with employers, collaborate with IHIF in industry-wide efforts to respond to evoking human capital needs. The data from the study came from two major sources; information collected by the United States Department of Labor, the Indiana Department of Workforce Development and other government agencies and health industry employers collected information through interviews and surveys. Lange said IHIF has already created the first employer network with Lilly, Roche, Baxter Healthcare and Dow Agro-Sci-ences.
Recipients of the Indianapolis National PanHellenic Council are (front row, left to right) Glynn Allen, Courtney Smith, Maya Sommerville, Rachel Humphrey and Brittany Hill. (Middle row, left to right) Derie Day, Sean Tucker and Tory Caudle. (Back row, left to right) Nathaniel Lofton, president and Carle Harris of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. The annual event was held at Crispus Attucks middle school last weekend.
Blacks fop racial group, Hispanics fop minorify
By AMOS BROWN III Recorder Correspondent African Americans remain America’s largest racial group, though Hispanics have edged out Blacks as the country’s largest minority. That’s the diverse results of the Census Bureau’s recent announcement of the 2002 population estimates by race and ethnicity for the United States. According to the census, as of July 2002, there were 442,927 more Hispanics in
the United States than African Americans. The census estimates Hispanic population is now 38,761,370, compared to 38,318,443 for African Americans. The federal government treats race and Hispanic origin as separate and distinct concepts and Hispanics can be of any race. According to the census estimates, 1.7 million of the nation’s 38.8 million Hispanics are African American; 807,000 are American Indians and 404,000 are Asians.
Though Hispanics surpass Blacks as the America’s largest minority, here in the Midwest and Indiana, African Americans are by far the largest minority and racial group. Though 2002 estimates won’t be released until next month, in 2000 in the 12 Midwestern states, there were 6.8 million African Americans, compared with 3.1 million Hispanics. In Indiana, there were 538,015 African Americans, compared with 214,536 Hispanics.
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► Continued from Page 1 improve our festival (in Indianapolis) and increase visitors.” With the festival being the premier event for the African Community International Inc., Ajiboye is quick to stress the organization’s main intention. “Our primary goal is to provide social services and open the door to community integration for the Africans who come here.” And exactly why do Africans opt to reside in Indianapolis? “There are two categories of immigration to Indianapolis. The first involves those who come directly from Africa and the other includes Africans who are settled in the United States, but trying to get away from the hustle and bustle of larger cities.” “What makes Indianapolis different from those areas is that you can’t get lost in it. It’s a big city with a moderate cost of living, good employment opportunities and the educational system is easy to navigate,” said Ajiboye. Tidiani Ouattara, a native of Mali expresses why he feels what the African Community International Inc. is doing is so impressive. “We got to stick together, we all from the same roots,” Ouattara said in a thick African accent. “If we stick together, we might have some kind of power. But if we split, it’s going to be tough for use back home and those that stay here. I think the (African Community International Inc.) is doing a really good job.” In the future African Community International Inc. wants to build a center where every country in Africa will be represented. But in the meantime, the organization will continue to provide its services to Africans in Central Indiana as well as seek funding. If you’re interested in learning more about the African Community International Inc. to help with funding, call (317) 927-9777.
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Coalition of Northeast Neighborhoods Coordinator The Coalition ol Northeast Neighborhoods is seeking a coordinator lo provide administrative and staff support lo the Weed and Seed initiative in this community Duties include attending community meetings, planning and implementing projects, preparing and delivering status reports, providing administrative report tor the Weed & Seed committees, and preparing tmancial claims tor reimbursement Candidates must have lour years ot related experience, two years of which must have been in community organization's criminal justice, neighborhood restoration or social service Candidates must posses a valid driver's license and be able to work flexible hours Working knowledge ol word processing and spreadsheets is required as well as good writing and presentation skills Resumes must be submitted by mail to the Coalition of Northeast Neighborhoods Personnel Committee, 3636 F 'IB" Street, Indianapolis IN 48218 no later than Monday. July 7 to be considered