'Work Ready Oklahoma' Expanding To Help Low-Income Families Become More Self-Sufficient

The Oklahoma Department of Human Services and Work Ready Oklahoma have partnered together to expand Work Ready Oklahoma statewide to help families become more self-sufficient.

For the last several years, Work Ready Oklahoma and DHS have been figuring out how best to help low-income families all over Oklahoma become more self-sufficient, especially in rural areas.

There are facilities in bigger cities like Goodwill Industries in Tulsa that help families find better opportunities. It also seeks to help people better deal with things like childcare, how to communicate in the workplace, and receive feedback to allow for more success in the workplace.

Work Ready Oklahoma and DHS saw a need for more of those services in rural areas.

"Our hope is that we are really building a learning community as we continue to see success in the communities, and allow more Oklahomans to access these opportunities for self-sufficiency. That we can continue to expand the footprint of these Work Ready Oklahoma centers to be able to cover or provide better access to more Oklahomans, to more parts of the state," said Sandino Thompson, Work Ready Oklahoma Director.

The goal is to have each facility across the state serve hundreds of people in each community annually to get them ready to enter the workforce and get a secure job.

"We have a wide, diverse, statewide learning network so they can boost peer engagement amongst themselves and help support each other’s communities as well. So this is a very unique opportunity to break those barriers to employment and really ignite a cycle of growth that can benefit Oklahomans," Sondra Shelby with the Oklahoma Department of Human Service said.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Oklahoma Department of Human Services. | CLICK HERE to learn more about Work Ready Oklahoma.