News

As summertime dwindles down, WCAC is gearing up for a busy fall and winter season… help out with our annual Coat Drive for Kids, join us for a special performance at The Hanover Theatre and more. Read all about it here.

As the summer of 2015 draws to a close, so too does the YouthWorks Summer Jobs Program, which provided more than 300 youth a meaningful paid employment experience in a variety of settings throughout the city. Funded by the commonwealth Corporation, Greater Worcester Community Foundation, the City of Worcester as well as Community Service Block Grant funds, YouthWorks provided 349 youth jobs for the summer of 2015. Click here to read more.

Tis the season to celebrate moms, dads and grads! Check out WCAC’s latest Enewsletter here.

Congratulations to the 23 young people who received their HiSET certificates and 21 who completed the Work Readiness Program this past year, celebrating at WCAC’s Job & Education Center graduation! We are so proud of each and every one of you! Remember – You’ve got brains in your head and feet in your shoes, you can steer yourself whatever way you choose!

Thank you for the generosity of so many who made our 50th Anniversary Celebration possible! In particular WCAC and WBDC would like to acknowledge our presenting sponsors Bowditch & Dewey and National Grid, as well as our signature sponsor Eversource Energy.

WCAC celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of the Head Start Program by President Lyndon B. Johnson on May 18, 1965 with a special rose ceremony for its teachers and staff, commemorating the launch of the program from the White House Rose Garden. Pictured here (L-R), WCAC Executive Director Jill Dagilis, Head Start C0-Director Kathleen Dow, WCAC Director of Human Resources & Operations Kerry Brennan, and Head Start Co-Director Evelyn Velez.

Worcester Community Action Council, Inc. held a celebration April 13th at St. Joseph’s Parish Center in Auburn, to acknowledge and thank several key individuals and organizations who assisted the agency with relocating 81 children from a Head Start site in Oxford following an emergency evacuation and subsequent closure due to a severely leaking roof in February. Dubbed Head Start Heroes, WCAC presented certificates of appreciation and potted plants – featuring handprints of Head Start students – to individuals who played a critical role in the eventual relocation of the displaced students to three alternative sites – the Guild of St. Agnes Daycare in Webster, St. Joseph’s Parish Center in Auburn, and…

Deputy Director Priscilla Holmes received self-sufficiency employee excellence and achievement award for 23 years of service” (L to R: WCAC Executive Director Jill C. Dagilis, WCAC Deputy Director Priscilla Holmes, and MASSCAP Executive Director Joe Diamond. Executive Director Jill C. Dagilis presents Congressman James P. McGovern with the MASSCAP Self-Sufficiency Public Service Award at the State House via Skype on March 27, 2013.