Wayne Community College, in partnership with James Sprunt, Sampson, and Lenoir Community Colleges, was recently awarded $1 million from Anonymous Trust in support of a new, two-year Latino Initiative called “Train the East.”

The “Train the East” initiative is part of a wider state collaboration, My Future NC, a project that aims to close the educational attainment gap and provide academic credentials for North Carolinians. The four community colleges will recruit, train, and support students from Latino communities in rural eastern North Carolina, building a skilled and credentialed workforce for Duplin, Jones, Greene, Lenoir, Sampson, and Wayne counties.

“I’m looking forward to this eastern region collaboration because I know that, together, we can help serve some of our most underserved populations by addressing educational gaps, while also helping to mitigate a worker shortage in our area,” stated Dr. Patty Pfeiffer, president of Wayne Community College.

Funds will be used to provide a full-time outreach recruiter/success coach, as well as offer student scholarships to help with tuition, books, and other fees.

“We are delighted to partner with four enthusiastic community colleges in eastern NC which understand the value of creating workforce pathways for the Latino community in the region as our state strives to meet the My Future NC goal of ‘ensuring that two million North Carolinians have a high-quality credential or postsecondary degree by 2030,’” said a representative of Anonymous Trust.