KINGWOOD, W.Va. — The state’s new multiagency recovery and training program has its first class of graduated students.
Jobs & Hope West Virginia, a program meant to combine addiction recovery programs with career training to help West Virginians overcome obstacles that might keep them out of the job market, graduated around a dozen individuals on Thursday in front of Gov. Jim Justice.
Justice, who created the program as Jim’s Dream a year ago, spoke alongside leaders from the West Virginia National Guard at the program’s base at Camp Dawson near Kingwood.
“Let’s get treatment if needed, and let’s get treatment for free if needed,” Justice said of his original thoughts about the program. “Then let’s get real training for free to where you are really trained to do something.”
The graduates participated in a week-long 54-hour grader operator course taught by heavy construction equipment instructors with the West Virginia National Guard (WVNG).
Justice spoke highly of the relationships built between graduates and members of the WVNG.
“The thing that is really unbelievable that you should get is they are thanking you,” he said to the graduates. “They are asking you to stay in touch with them, where they can help you even more.”
Today I was honored to present certificates to the graduates at our first Jobs & Hope WV training class — a grader operator course! The Jobs and Hope Program gives these men and women a real opportunity for success! #WV #WVGov https://t.co/FpnnLu16DB pic.twitter.com/u3F5YZLg6n
— Governor Jim Justice (@WVGovernor) November 21, 2019
Participants in the program have a final step of the expungement of a non-violent criminal record after completion.
Justice told them all on Thursday that life is about how a person responds from making a mistake.
“We all drift and we all make mistakes, every last one of us. There is nobody perfect in this world.”
Jobs & Hope officially launched last month and drew $29.7 million in funding for its first year from multiple state agencies.