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Education for Independence

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The Centers at Southside Virginia Community College are helping to make brighter futures for eligible participants through career counseling, classes which train individuals as competitive job seekers and with other support services.

Center Goals

• To make individuals aware of important vocational training programs and support services.
• To help the individual better understand themselves through assessment of their personal and vocational strengths and weaknesses.
• To provide vocational and occupational training, guidance and job placement.
• To offer some GED preparation instruction.
• To provide funding for support services including tuition and fees, books and materials, child care and transportation for center participants.
• To provide personal life skill development, pre-employment preparation, seminars and individual guidance.
• Explore non-traditional career choices and the issue of vocational equity for men and women.
• Provide job development and preparation services.
• Provide group support and peer counseling.

You May Be Eligible

Center services are available free of charge to individuals living in the city of Emporia and the counties of Brunswick, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Greensville, Halifax, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Prince Edward, Surry and Sussex who are:

Single Parents - Individuals who are unmarried or legally separated from a spouse and (1) have a minor child or children for which the parent has either custody or joint custody or (2) is pregnant.

Displaced Homemakers - Individuals who because of divorce, death of spouse, or other circumstances, must seek education/training and/or employment after years if not working. This includes the individual who: has worked as an adult primarily without renumeration to care for the home and family, and for that reason has diminished marketable skills; has been dependent on public assistance or on the income of a relative but is not longer supported by such income; is a parent whose youngest dependent child will become ineligible for aid to families with dependent children under Part A of Title IV of the Social Security Act within two years of the parent's application for assistance under this Act; or is unemployed or underemployed and is experiencing difficulty in obtaining any employment or suitable employment.