Poverty Solutions’ GED-2-College Program was designed to decrease the incidence of uneducated and undereducated youth and young adults across the Los Angeles County. Poverty Solutions’ GED-2-College project empowers low-income youths, families, women, and minorities who are without high-school diploma, economically disadvantaged, and underserved in Los Angeles County ( Southern California ). We help participants to take initiatives that would move them permanently out of poverty and into sustainable self-sufficiency. P-Solutions has a strategic partnership with Los Angeles Southwest College to assist participants of the program to ensure success in their academic pursuits.
With unemployment in many urban cities as high as 17%, at-risk youths are unable to obtain and/or maintain stable employment. In 2010, the state of California showed 68.3% of students graduated and 20.1% dropped out. For the LAUSD, the dropout rate was 34.9%, above the statewide figure of 18.2 percent. This group of low income individuals who are without high school diploma faces significant obstacles. Studies have shown that targeted strategies such as simplified learning process, support service, and clear strategies could succeed in helping these individuals excel in education, obtain and retain employment. A program encompassing peoples’ needs as well as their aspirations requires threading multiple disciplines into a comprehensive and individualized program. Our program starts with P-Solutions traditional weekly workshops called “Divest Poverty Workshops.” There, participants who are 18 years of age and over, but have neither a high-school diploma nor GED are recommended to enroll into our GED preparation, test taking, and college application program. When a participant who has passed the GED test and is not interested in going to college, P-Solutions’ staff will teach participants how to write a resume, fill out a job application, and prepare for a job interview.