State Farm® provides $7,500 grant to Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois
Funds to provide assistance for Strengthening Working Families initiative

[February 17, 2020]  Earlier this month, State Farm awarded a grant in the amount of $7,500 to the Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois (CAPCIL). The funds will be utilized for the organization’s Strengthening Working Families program.

The purpose of the program allows participants to improve their current employment situation by becoming employed, increasing employment, and/or completing additional educational training, certification or degree towards improving their employment opportunities. The project works towards placement in high-growth, high-demand, living-wage jobs, while advancing participants in (among others) the fields of Health Science, Logistics, and Manufacturing.

“The State Farm grant will allow us to continue to offer classes revolving around job training and the integrity of work, financial literacy and money management,” said Breann Titus, Director of Agency Development for CAPCIL. “The intended outcome upon course completion is for eligible participants to apply for scholarships to help them achieve their GED, Technical/ Certification or an Associates/Bachelor's degree."

In 2018, CAPCIL assisted 194 families through this program. All participants were adults over the age of 18, with an increased focus on the disengaged youth population.

Within the program:

• 57% of the unemployed obtained employment
   

• 67% of employed participants increased their employment either by hours or salary
   

• 91% of families decreased there reliance on welfare and increased their self-sufficiency
   

• 58% of families increased their financial literacy skills.

“At State Farm, we make it our business to be like a good neighbor, helping to build safer, stronger, and better educated communities," said local State Farm agent Chris Coyne. “Educated neighborhoods are the foundation of a strong society, and the Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois definitely strides to make our local communities a better place to live."

[Dave Oloffson,
Corporate Responsibility Analyst
State Farm®]