Department of Labor sponsors newest Americans at ELI

Life has changed considerably for Olga Babak, a mechanical engineer from Izversk, Russia, who once had to ask for KGB protection when Chechen rebels threatened her and her two young sons. A Delaware resident since 2000, Babak has held two jobs in the United States and qualified for an individual training account voucher by the Delaware Department of Labor for continuing education, including English classes at ELI.

According to Kelly Galvin, ELI admissions counselor, all states have similar funding available under the Workforce Investment Board program, but few are more successful than Delaware in publicizing and actually utilizing this resource. The Workforce Investment Board empowers individuals to find employment, education, training and information, while providing Delaware’s employers with job-ready, skilled workers with occupational training that reflect the needs of Delaware’s labor market.

In the last four years, ELI has trained 56 immigrants from 26 different countries sponsored by the Department of Labor. To qualify for the program, applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents who are legally eligible to work in the United States. Once they are funded, immigrant workers may receive tuition, transportation and even childcare cost reimbursements.

No matter how busy life gets for Babak, who studies full time while working part time in Dover, she is grateful for the excellent English education she says she is receiving at ELI.