Services promoted to East Chattanooga residents

photo Robert Schreane

GETTING HELP• The Urban League of Greater Chattanooga Inc. jobs fair is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the Urban League.• Hope for the Inner City's Jobs for Life program is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. May 5 to July 10. Email vboozer@hope4theinnercity.org or 698-3178 ext 113 for more information.• Hope for the Inner City's summer program for ages 6 to 18 is June 7 to Aug. 1. Call 423-698-3178 ext. 113.• First Things First's Work Smart, Live Well job training program is 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 19 -22.

Summer camp, job training and housing programs are offered in East Chattanooga but some residents don't know they exist.

So neighborhood organizations are planning quarterly meetings to connect residents to those resources.

The first meeting was at Avondale Recreation Center last week. The next will be scheduled sometime this summer.

"We're pulling people together," said Robert Schreane, Hamilton County Coalition program manager.

Hope for the Inner City provides summer programs for youths ages 6 to 18. The fee is $40 a week for ages 6 to 12. That's cheaper than any day care, said Andrew Steele, Hope for the Inner City's marketing and communication director.

The camp fee for youths ages 13 to 18 is $70 for the entire summer, he said.

Hope for the Inner City also offers a free job training class where participants get tutoring to pass the GED test. They also get mentors and several participants get jobs. The next session is scheduled May 5 to July 10.

First Things First will do a free four-day job training program at the Avondale Recreation Center in May. The program, called Work Smart, Live Well, will help residents with interviewing techniques, effective resume writing and on-the-job conflict resolution skills. It is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. May 19-22.

Urban League of Greater Chattanooga is promoting its annual spring jobs fair where more than 20 companies will be available. Potential employees are asked to attend the fair dressed for interviews. The jobs fair is at the Urban League office on M.L. King Boulevard from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday.

City Council Chairman Yusuf Hakeem said he and other East Chattanooga residents still want a grocery store in the neighborhood. He said he eventually will ask the City Council for $12,000 to conduct a study determining where the store should be located.

And Dr. Paul Smith, Chattanooga's public safety coordinator, spoke about Mayor Andy Berke's Violence Reduction Initiative, stating that shootings and violence will decrease in East Chattanooga.

East Chattanooga Improvement Inc. wants residents to know about resources they can access to help themselves instead of waiting on assistance from others, said James Moreland, who heads the improvement organization.

East Chattanooga Improvement Inc. donated a house to the Hamilton County Coalition. The coalition plans to renovate the house, located on Roanoke Avenue, and rent it to a low-income resident. The coalition also has applied for city and state grants to purchase and renovate more vacant homes in East Chattanooga.

One in five East Chattanooga homes is vacant, according to the mayor's office.

Contact staff writer Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 757-6431.

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