Citizens Bank Continues Support of the Skills Initiative with $60,000 Contribution

We are thrilled to announce that Citizens Bank has awarded us a $60,000 grant to support our nationally-recognized job training program, the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI). This generous contribution pushes the total support offered by the Citizens Charitable Foundation to the Skills Initiative to over half a million dollars since our program's inception.

Citizens Bank believes that investing in the communities where they live and work enriches us all. Focused on fighting hunger, teaching money management, and strengthening communities, Citizens aims to provide the tools and support to drive the economic vitality of the streets, neighborhoods, and towns they serve. That has certainly been apparent through Citizens' steadfast support of WPSI. 

With help from recent Citizens support, the Skills Initiative has continued and expanded on its efforts to serve the entire Philadelphia region by launching more city-wide recruitments, adding additional employer partners, and working to pivot to virtual and hybrid trainings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, the typical Skills Initiative participant entered the program having experienced 31 weeks of recent unemployment, yet 95% of graduates were placed in jobs at an average starting wage of $15.49 per hour. We are looking forward to upcoming collaborations with SEPTA and Penn Medicine in the next month, and to many more into 2022. 

We are deeply grateful to Citizens Charitable Foundation for their continued support.