SER Network of Affiliates: SER Metro-Detroit – Detroit, MI

SER Network of Affiliates: SER Metro-Detroit – Detroit, MI

SER Network of Affiliates: SER Metro-Detroit – Detroit, MI

With the mission statement of Advancing People, Growing Businesses, and Strengthening Communities through Education, Employment, Economic and Community Development, SER Metro-Detroit is positively impacting the lives of thousands of Americans every year in multiple states.

SER Metro-Detroit began in 1971 as a small community-based organization and has since evolved into a vital Detroit resource, enhancing the lives of thousands across the city each year. Through a series of education, job training, and job placement programs, along with youth development and education initiatives, SER provides Detroit residents with the skills, resources, and opportunities they need to achieve self-sufficiency.

To learn more about SER Metro-Detroit and their subsidiaries, visit https://sermetro.org/.

Latino Community Development Agency — serving the Latino community in Oklahoma

Latino Community Development Agency — serving the Latino community in Oklahoma

Latino Community Development Agency (LCDA) provides programs and services in the Oklahoma City area.  LCDA has future goals to expand its signature services to clients based in other cities of the State of Oklahoma.  LCDA’s mission is to improve the quality of life in the Latino community through educationleadershipservices, and advocacy.

To learn more about LCDA, visit https://lcdaok.com/ and click here for a short video: https://youtu.be/pUrx-_-uPXY

LaAmistad — making a positive change in Atlanta!

LaAmistad — making a positive change in Atlanta!

LaAmistad, Inc. provides programs and services through more than 15 locations in the Greater Atlanta area.  At LaAmistad, friendships between students and staff, volunteers, and fellow students are cultivated every day. Their impact can last a lifetime.  With a mission to prepare Latino students and families for success through academic and life enrichment programs; and with a vision that Latino students and families achieve life-long self-sufficiency, LaAmistad is there to make a positive impact.

To learn more about LaAmistad, visit https://www.laamistadinc.org/ and click here for a short video: https://youtu.be/LRjyflFGpsU

Meet one of SER’s California Affiliates!

Meet one of SER’s California Affiliates!

SER Jobs for Progress of San Joaquin Valley, headquartered in Fresno, California, provides programs and services with offices located in over 20 counties.  From affordable housing, to education, to employment services for mature workers, SER’s Affiliates strive to help all ages.

To learn more about SER Jobs for Progress of San Joaquin Valley click here: https://youtu.be/udqsJ7w_ifI

Congrats to the CEO of the Mission of Love Charites

Congrats to the CEO of the Mission of Love Charites

The CEO of our Maryland affiliate, Deborah Martinez, was named one of Essence Magazine’s 2020 Essential Heroes. “This was the work of our amazing team who banded together to continue our service to our community in Prince George’s County, Maryland. I’m honored to receive this award and to share it with my team and the many other Essential Heroes,” said Deb. Congratulations to Deb and her team.

The Mission of Love Charities (MOLC) is a SER National affiliate approved by the SER National Board of Directors in October 2019. MOLC is based in Capitol Heights-MD and has provided services to that community since opening its doors in 1992. MOLC’s mission is to empower, educate, and advocate for low-income individuals and families in order to diminish poverty.

Some of the programs and services provided by MOLC to their community are:

  • Workforce Development/ Employability Skills Certification Program
  • Basic Needs
  • Homeless Services
  • Utility, Rental and Security Deposit Assistance
  • Food Pantry
  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
  • Behavioral & Mental Health Support
Ford Partners With 3M, GE to Make Respirators, Ventilators

Ford Partners With 3M, GE to Make Respirators, Ventilators

Ford announced Tuesday that it’s working with 3M and GE Healthcare to produce medical equipment and protective gear for healthcare workers to help address shortages in the fight against the coronavirus.

Healthcare workers around the country have expressed concern about difficulties in attaining enough critical supplies, such as masks, gloves and ventilators, to deal with the influx of patients suffering from the highly contagious virus.

Ford said it will work with 3M to produce a new kind of Powered Air-Purifying Respirator for healthcare workers. A PAPR has a clear mask that fits over the face. Air is drawn in through a tube connected to a pump that filters the air. The PAPR will be made using parts from both Ford and 3M, the automaker said, including fans used in the Ford F-150’s optional ventilated seats.

Ford said it is exploring the possibility of producing the device at one of its Michigan factories. 3M will also make the respirators at its own factory, Ford said.

Ford also announced that it’s working with GE Healthcare to increase production of ventilators, sophisticated air pumps needed by some critically ill coronavirus patients. It is not clear exactly how Ford will help GE to make more ventilators.

‘Working with 3M and GE, we have empowered our teams of engineers and designers to be scrappy and creative to quickly help scale up production of this vital equipment,’ Ford CEO Jim Hackett said in the company’s announcement. ‘We’ve been in regular dialogue with federal, state and local officials to understand the areas of greatest needs.’

The automaker also said it will work with the United Auto Workers Union to assemble clear plastic face shields that protect people from possibly infectious bodily fluids. The Ford-designed masks are being tested at Detroit-area hospitals. They could be used by healthcare workers, but also others, such as store clerks, who must regularly deal with the public.

Ford is also using 3D printers at its Advanced Manufacturing Center to create disposable air-filtering respirator masks. Once approved, Ford said, the company could initially 1,000 masks per month but hopes to increase production as quickly as possible.

Other major US automakers have also made similar announcements.

General Motors said last Friday that it was going to work with Ventec Life Systems to help increase its production of ventilators for hospital patients. On Monday, the two companies announced that Ventec ‘is now planning exponentially higher ventilator production as fast as possible’ as a result of the partnership.

GM said it is also looking into producing the devices at its Kokomo, Indiana, electronics assembly plant.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has also said on Twitter that his company could make ventilators if needed.

Last Saturday he tweeted that he had had ‘a long engineering discussion with Medtronic about state-of-the-art ventilators.’

Medtronic confirmed that it has had discussions with Musk.

Musk has not given any specific timetable for producing ventilators, though, and did not say what his companies and Medtronic might do together. Tesla spokespeople did not respond to requests for more information.

‘Medtronic will work with Tesla and others to try and solve this ventilator supply challenge,’ a Medtronic spokeperson told CNN Business in an email. The company also did not provide any information about how Musk’s companies could help in the production of more ventilators.

On Monday, California Governor Gavin Newsom told reporters that Musk had donated 1,000 ventilators. Musk Tweeted later that those ventilators had been purchased from China,

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also announced Monday it would produce as many as 1 million protective face masks a week that it would donate to hospitals, police and emergency personnel dealing with coronavirus patients.

All four automakers announced last week that they would temporarily shut down production of cars and SUVs at their US factories in the face of the coronavirus outbreak.