Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Samantha I. Lugo (212) 788-9364
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today helped the Wildcat Service Corporation celebrate its 25th year providing training and employment for public assistance dependents. The Mayor also proclaimed May 20th, Wildcat Service Corporation Day in a ceremony at Chase Manhattan Bank headquarters.
" It's a great pleasure to be with you on your 25th birthday," Mayor Giuliani said. "That's 25 years as a leader, as a pioneer, as a force of hope in New York City. That's 25 years of understanding that bringing progress to the lives of individuals means giving them control over their lives, allowing them to exercise their potential and pursue happiness - not just giving them checks."
"Over the last five years, we've transformed welfare by putting work first, leading the nation in the process. We've moved more than 340,000 people off the welfare rolls, giving them the opportunity to take care of themselves. Thank you for setting the precedent, leading the way, and being such an important partner in the process," the Mayor added.
Joining the Mayor were Amalia V. Betanzos, President and CEO of Wildcat Service Corporation and Roger L. Williams, Chairman of the Wildcat Board of Directors.
The ceremony honored Jamie Dimon, Co-CEO of Salomon Smith Barney for his firm's leadership and support of welfare-to-work programs, and Herbert Sturz, the founder of Wildcat Service Corporation.
Wildcat Service Corporation, a not-for-profit organization, began as an experiment to test the effectiveness of the Supported Work Concept in 1972. It provides chronically unemployed individuals with "work habits training". The agency's clients include ex-offenders, single mothers receiving welfare and disadvantaged and at-risk youth for whom the cycle of welfare dependency can be broken permanently. More than 75, 000 New York City residents have enrolled in the agency's various employment and training programs.
Wildcat and Salomon Smith Barney created an innovative partnership in 1995. It provides education, training and career opportunities to women who are single custodial parents and are welfare recipients. The program, funded by the New York City Department of Employment, has received national recognition as a model for replication under the new welfare reform legislation.
In 1992, Wildcat also created the Wildcat Academy, as an alternative high school for at-risk youth. The Academy has an enrollment of 125 students, ages 16 to 20. Of the 98 students who earned their diplomas, 70 entered college, 8 enrolled in the military and 20 secured full-time employment. The Academy's curriculum include life skills training, paid internships with public and private employers, a mentoring program and an award-winning arts program.
Amailia V. Betanzos also serves as the Chair of the New York City Commission on the Status of Women.