Financial obstacles continue to burden individuals who are seeking to advance their careers. Acquiring student loans and working multiple jobs while taking courses to acquire new skills can overwhelm even the most ambitious person driven to find a better future for themselves.

Education Design Lab hosted Fellows from Harvard’s Project on Workforce during the summer of 2023. The Fellows conducted interviews with community college leaders, employers, and community organizations to evaluate collaborative opportunities to better serve today’s learner-earner population.

Hudson County Community College (HCCC) aspires to reach new levels of excellence to provide its diverse communities with inclusive, high-quality educational programs and wraparound supports that promote student success, equitable workforce solutions, and the business community most effectively.

Many colleges provide programs and services that help student parents succeed, such as on-campus child development centers, welfare-to-work programs, and lactation rooms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the particular struggles of students responsible for school-aged children were made visible, as parents and children had to navigate access to computers, Wi-Fi, and quiet study space, among many other challenges.

What goes into your health?

What happens when you make a unified effort to successfully connect workforce ecosystems not only to pave the way for meaningful employment, but also to focus on addressing foundational needs like stable housing and food security? You reduce poverty.