The linchpin for the Work+ program is the former Ohio Casualty Building at Third and Dayton streets in downtown Hamilton. Students will stay rent-free at the building, living on either the sixth or seventh floor — including summers — while they are in the program. Public transportation will be provided for the students, but meals are not included.
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“They’re going to have that experience where everybody has a job at a great company … and earn a wage,” said Ohio Sen. Bill Coley, R-Liberty Twp, who came up with the idea of Work+. “The Amer-I-CAN program is the glue that’s really going to make this thing click. It’s going to make this whole thing come together.”
Brown founded the Amer-I-Can program in 1988, and the goals include enabling individuals to meet their academic potential and equipping them with critical life-management skills to be contributing members of society.
Monique Brown, Jim Brown’s wife, said they’re “beyond excited” about the partnership and opportunity as “it will extend beyond this building and build the community.”
“It does take a village and we’ve never had the opportunity to really do anything like this,” said Monique Brown. “Having this opportunity to have a facility like this that’s a whole pipeline for young people to education and employers.”
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The Work+ program provides Ohio residents the opportunity to gain work experience, build a career, and earn an associates or bachelor's degree debt-free. Participants work part-time — 24 hours a week — with one of the Work+ employers as they take classes in a major of their choice at Miami University Regionals.
They will also participate in life-skills training.
Employers pay tuition for every class where the student earns at least a C-minus, according to the program.
The goal is to have 40 to 50 people participate in the pilot phase of the Work+ program, where applications are being accepted through Aug. 15.
To qualify for the Work+ program, applicants must apply and be successfully hired into an entry-level position at one of the Work+ employers: Deceunick North America in Monroe, The Fischer Group in Fairfield, Thyssenkrupp Bilstein of America in Hamilton or Butler County Regional Transit Authority in West Chester.
Applicants must also compete the Work+ student interest form, apply for admission to Miami Regionals, apply for Federal student aid (FAFSA), attend a Work+ orientation and registration session, and sign the program’s employee/student agreement.
As the program expands, building owner Stewart Lichter said other floors can grow to accommodate growth. However, the eighth floor will have apartments for rent, and the first floor will have retail spaces.
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