Program Information: Kathy Beckman (305) 237-3688.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ROTARY CLUB OF MIAMI SELECTS MIAMI DADE COLLEGE’S MEED PROGRAM FOR COVETED COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
MIAMI, February 3, 2006 – Since 1987, Miami Dade College’s Microcomputer Education for Employment of the Disabled (MEED) Program has provided individuals with disabilities career training and customized job placement assistance. Because of the opportunities offered by the MEED Program, more than 500 of its graduates work for major corporations, government organizations, colleges and private businesses.
For these efforts, the Rotary Club of Miami recognized the MEED Program on Thursday, January 26, 2006 with its prestigious Community Service Award. The award recognized the MEED Program for its “exceptional training and education of the disabled”.
“The MEED Program fills a pressing community need,” said Kathy Beckman, MEED Program Director and a member of the Rotary Club of Miami. “Only 35% of individuals with disabilities are employed, contrasted with 78% of the general adult population. Employment brings financial and personal independence to adults with disabilities, meets local workforce needs, increases our local tax base, and reduces costs of social services. Everyone benefits – the individual, the employer, and the community.”
The MEED Program has enjoyed a long-time partnership with the Rotary Club of Miami, a service organization of business and professional leaders. Since MEED’s inception, the Rotary Club has provided advice and guidance to the program. Rotary Club members have served as mentors, instructors and counselors to MEED students, even offering internships and employment opportunities. In addition, the Rotary Club created a perpetual endowment for the MEED Program, which is now worth more than $130,000.
“For close to 20 years MEED has served this community and its disabled residents with distinction,” said Rotarian Arnold Galperin who served for 15 years as the volunteer chairman of the MEED Program’s Business Advisory Council (BAC) and continues as an active BAC member. “It has received national recognition and has been a model for other programs throughout the country. We are extremely proud of what MEED has accomplished and of our association with it.”
The MEED Program provides adults ages 18-65 with documented disabilities the opportunity to earn college credentials and to receive customized job placement assistance. Students may take classes at any Miami Dade College campus. MEED Program career specialists, assisted by a dedicated Business Advisory Council from the community, assist students with disabilities in finding their first job and advancing in their careers. The MEED Program presently serves 100 current and former Miami Dade College students with disabilities. Program openings are available.
More information is available online at www.mdc.edu/meed or by calling (305) 237-3397.
Program Information: Kathy Beckman (305) 237-3688.
Media contacts: Manolo Barco (305) 237-3081 or Beverly Counts Rodrigues, Director of Media Relations (305) 237-3949
###
This and other news releases from MDC’s Media Relations Department are available on the web at <www.mdc.edu>.