WEPA EMPOWERMENT CENTER, INC

On June 14, the network's administrators announced in Lancaster that the Tec Centro Network received $8 million in state funding. In 2022, the network received $5 million in the state budget. The Tec Centro Network has locations in Lebanon, Lancaster and Berks counties, with organizers working to add locations in York and Harrisburg.

This funding is critically important to helping meet the growing demand for workforce development in the Central Pennsylvania region, according to network Executive Director Carlos Graupera.

"The message that we want to convey to everyone who is listening to us is that our marginalized communities and third class cities are on the move," he said. "They want investment. They want to do the hard work...and it's such a pleasure to see philanthropy, the corporate community, public officials and vocational education all come together on a single mission to transform our communities."

WEPA Empowerment Center an organization in Lebanon is setting residents up for success with new resources to reach their career goals. The non-profit organization hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking to introduce Allied Health which is a new initiative to their Tec Centro program. While the group already offers job development, this new initiative will allow the community to train for positions in the healthcare field.

Saying they are opening doors to adult education opportunities in Lebanon County, workforce development and other local officials held a ground-breaking ceremony at Tec Centro Lebanon on Wednesday.

Beginning in late September, the workforce training facility in Lebanon city known as WEPA will begin to offer adult education classes in four healthcare fields: nurse aid, phlebotomy, healthcare office assistant, and medical assisting, according to Kay Litman, executive director for Tec Centro Lebanon.

"Now more than ever, accessible, and affordable workforce training is the cornerstone of addressing poverty, unemployment, and underemployment in our communities. With May 1 being National Skilled Trades Day, it’s a great reminder to recognize the critical need for creating more opportunities for skilled training, especially in Pennsylvania’s third-class cities like Lebanon (Kay Litman column in Lebtown)."

"Lebanon County has spent over $25 million of the nearly $26.1 million received through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021. To date, the federal funding has been allocated to 11 projects with others still to be decided – possibly as soon as the next meeting of the Lebanon County Commissioners on April 18, according to chairman Bob Phillips. Under the law, counties have until the end of 2024 for their funds to be allocated and 2026 for the money to be used...The federal government passed ARPA in March 2021, during the height of the pandemic. By July, Wolgemuth said the county knew its share ($26.07 million) of the $1.9 trillion the feds placed into the program. “The first disbursement was in August of 2021 and it went to WEPA,” added Wolgemuth, who has kept meticulous records since the government requires quarterly reporting through the end of the program (James Mentzer reporting for Lebtown)."

"Workforce development training classes set to begin this spring are now slated to start this fall due to the funding delay. The first workforce development training classes will be in the medical field and include certified nurse’s aide, phlebotomy technician, healthcare office assistant, and medical assistant. Dental assistant studies will eventually be added to the allied health program. With state funding expected to arrive soon, renovations to the 108-year-old Elks Building in downtown Lebanon will be able to move forward and staff hired to teach the adult-ed classes (James Mentzer reporting for Lebtown)."

"The Tec Centro Workforce Network recently received a $250,000 grant from the Truist Foundation that will support the network’s bilingual workforce development centers in Berks, Lancaster, Lebanon and York counties. The workforce network is a coalition of the region’s bilingual community-based Tec Centro Workforce Centers which serve disproportionately disadvantaged populations with adult basic education and occupational training. The grant will be used for programing and infrastructure (Enelly Bethancourt reporting for Lancaster Online)."

“Tec Centro Lebanon/WEPA Empowerment Center recently received $50,000 in grant funding from the Dixon Foundation to support renovations for health care training programs. A state-of-the-art classroom and training space for programs including Nursing Assistant, Medical Assisting, Phlebotomy, and Health care Office Assistant are part of the $500,000 renovation project which will redesign the interior space on the first floor of the WEPA Empowerment Center (Ed Gruver reporting for cpdj.com).”

"Rafael and Maribel Torres, founders of the WEPA Empowerment Center, have been working to build their nonprofit since 2018. In mid-August, they officially opened the first phase of their 9th street location at the former Elks Building” (Daniel Larlham Jr reporting, lbnews).

"Surrounded by friends, family and supporters, these grandmothers got to take a stroll down the red carpet on Saturday for the premier of WEPA Empowerment Center's debut film, "Our Grandmothers' Voices." The bilingual film, roughly 35 minutes long, followed interviews from 12 grandmothers living in Central Pennsylvania, imparting their wisdom, shared stories of their past and forewarned parents and youth of what they see today (Daniel Larlham Jr. reporting for ldnews)."

"As WEPA opens the doors of its 9th St. workforce empowerment center, organizers say it is only the first phase to provide employment services for residents...The goal of Tec Centro Lebanon is to help people get a better-paying, life-sustaining job, according to executive director Kay Litman (Matthew Toth reporting for LDnews.com)"...

“Kay Litman has heard the refrain about the economy repeatedly. Unemployment is at a 40-year low, people will say. But for many, that isn’t the problem; it’s underemployment, said the executive director of Tec Centro Lebanon, and the inability to earn a life-sustaining wage to support themselves and their families. That’s where Tec Centro Lebanon – which hopes to fill that void – comes in. Modeled after the highly successful Tec Centro Lancaster, which also spawned Tec Centro York and Tec Centro Berks, the workforce development program in Lebanon is a division of the WEPA Empowerment Center” (Paula Wolf reporting for Lebtown).