A nationwide trend is taking center stage in New Orleans as the New Orleans Job Corps Center is preparing to close.
The closure is due to the Department of Labor pausing funding to the program, impacting both students and staff.
Students of the program located on Airline Highway said that, after receiving the news of the closure, they are left in limbo.
“I had finally felt like I had a plan for success. I knew exactly what I was going to do, where I was going to go. I felt like I was finally, in a sense, going to be something,” said Tyreon Rogers.
The center services more than 100 students, preparing them in six careers including culinary arts, health care and carpentry.
Londyn Collins participated in the electrical trade, hoping to build a better life.
“After my mom passed away, I wanted to support my little sister, so I came here to get a lifelong career,” Collins said.
Now, she’s worried about her future as well as the students in the program and the 200 in the pipeline waiting.
“It’s not just you know, cutting funds, they are drastically changing people’s lives,” Collins said.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-Deremer, the program is no longer achieving the intended outcomes and the cut aligns with the president’s 2026 budget proposal.
Job Corps Programs Director Ken James said the move was a shock and takes away resources from people who wish to work.
“The adage is to pull yourself up by the boot straps, but if you take away the boots and the straps, there’s nothing for them to do,” James said.
On Monday, termination letters were issued to Job Corps employees with a hard cutoff of June 30.
“Nobody is going to get rich working at Job Corps, but the blessing comes in us being able to see students make a 180-degree turn,” James said.
As both staff and students figure out what comes next, they’re pleading with the administration to hear them out.
“Some people, they don’t have anything else. They come to Job Corps to succeed,” said Job Corps student Khloe Fleming.
