ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo paid a visit to the Community Place of Greater Rochester on Wednesday to announce a set of Anti-Poverty Initiatives that are coming to Monroe County.
Cuomo pledged almost $16 million in state funding, which will also be combined with private funds. The final result will be almost $30 million to Workforce Development at Monroe Community College, as well as Youth and Adult Mentoring Programs.
These projects are three of the first to receive this kind of funding through the "One Community Plan" by the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council.
The hope is to reduce poverty rates in Monroe County through "cradle to career" workforce readiness initiatives.
Recent data shows that one in four children in Monroe County are living in poverty. These new programs will also be used to pair 700 Rochester area high school students with mentoring services and part time jobs every year through the Hillside Work-Scholarship Connection.
"It's incredibly enriching and exciting to be part of an initiative that helps to move individuals that right now are outside of economic opportunity, into economic opportunity by giving them the skillsets as well as the wraparound services they need to succeed," said Anne Kress, president of Monroe Community College.
All of these programs are part of the Finger Lakes Forward Strategic Plan, which aims to provide a "Pathway to Prosperity" those in poverty.