02-05-2025
PeoriaCorps celebrates community service program graduates
PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) — Lots of hard work paid off for five people in a ceremony on Friday at the Twin Towers Mall in Downtown Peoria.
PeoriaCorps, along with Serve Illinois and AmeriCorps State and National, honored five graduating members who spent six months learning various skills. They are:
Kendall Hood
Bradley Miller
Teryn Thomas
Steed Weeks
Daighla Williams
Another group is set to graduate later this summer but after that, it's anybody's guess as to what might happen after the sweeping federal cuts have gutted the agency.
'One more cohort of five has until July to complete their service,' said City Manager Patrick Urich on Friday. 'We will be recommending to council on May 13 to keep them going. After that, we will have to wait and see what the Feds do.'
AmeriCorps cuts prompt two dozen states to sue Trump administration
'As the group's no longer going, our next cohort was canceled and we are just barely able to get this graduation,' said graduating student Daighla Williams. 'So it's heartbreaking to see, but at the same time, very lucky that we hit just the end of it.'
The program helps to develop the participants' skills to give them a leg up on employability.
Williams said that the work done through the program is fulfilling, making sure that the city is a better place.
'I get a lot of pride, especially in our garbage cleanup,' she said. 'Being a big city as Peoria is, there isn't really anybody who goes around and picks up the garbage, and there's a lot of garbage accumulated.'
All five graduates earned their OSHA 10 certification for General Industry along with their CPR First Aid certification. They also became forklift certified through Goodwill Industries of Central Illinois, which required them to complete 900 service hours.
In the six-month program, the graduates worked on green infrastructure projects like planting trees and other green infrastructure projects around the city.
Launched in October 2017, the PeoriaCorps program aims to provide a rewarding, service-based experience, career track, and opportunities for unemployed workers 18 years and older. Corps members have the opportunity, through hands-on training, to gain skills in environmental beautification/stewardship and green landscaping solutions.
To learn more about the program, click here.
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