Lighthouse Receives $75K Grant To Provide Job Training

ANNAPOLIS, MD — The Light House Bistro Workforce Development Program, a restaurant and catering social enterprise program created by The Light House Homeless Prevention Support Center, has been awarded a $75,000 Maryland Department of Labor Opioid Workforce Innovation Fund (OWIF) grant.

The grant will provide individuals who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic with job training and work opportunities at Light House Bistro. Grant funds will directly empower these individuals with the skills they need to support themselves and their families. For more than 30 years, The Light House’s overarching goal has been to make homelessness brief and rare in central Maryland. The Light House meets the needs not only of homeless individuals and families living in their shelter, but also of those in poverty, coming out of incarceration, living in addiction treatment facilities and recovery centers, and at other shelters in the area.

"Maryland Department of Labor is thrilled to support Light House Bistro’s continued efforts to empower and uplift Marylanders through our Opioid Workforce Innovation Fund,” said Maryland Department of Labor Secretary Tiffany Robinson in a statement. “Through this funding, individuals impacted by the opioid crisis will receive in-demand training and develop the skills necessary to re-enter our state’s workforce, further supporting their recovery.”

"Light House programs have been increasingly serving people who have been directly and indirectly impacted by the opioid crisis,” added Beth Rocca, director of Light House Bistro Social Enterprises. “In particular, our Light House Bistro Workforce Development Program has been training and placing into permanent hire many of those struggling because of this epidemic. In fact, 82 percent of people in our workforce programs have been impacted by the opioid crisis, and 90 percent are also receiving treatment for co-occurring mental health disorders. This OWIF funding will give The Light House and Light House Bistro the opportunity to provide the next level of care and support these individuals need."