19
August
2019
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15:23 PM
America/Chicago

H.E.A.R.T. Program Graduates Honored at Special Ceremony

It was a big day for 28 adults with cognitive, intellectual and developmental disabilities when they graduated with a Continuing Education Certificate from the University of Houston-Downtown at a special ceremony held Aug. 16. This is the first of two cohorts to graduate from a pilot program aimed at preparing these individuals with life skills and job readiness skills.

These 28 adult learners completed two semesters of course work, a paid internship at UHD, and a paid externship with a local employer. The program was developed by the University of Houston-Downtown in partnership with the Housing, Entrepreneurship, and Readiness Training, or H.E.A.R.T. Program, through a workforce development grant from Workforce Solutions.

Classroom work focused on building on students' life skills as well as provide job readiness training to prepare them for job opportunities. Students were invited to become involved in all aspects of student life at UHD and were also provided student mentors and job liaisons. Both the internship and externship paid students a minimum of $10 per hour.

More details on this program are available in this related UHD News article.