JACKSON, Miss.- A $20.5 million grant from the USDA has been awarded to begin a workforce training pilot program for SNAP recipients.
Governor Phil Bryant made that announcement Monday. Bryant says more than 3,000 Supplemental Nutrition Assistance “SNAP” recipients will be randomly selected for the three-year pilot program.
“Recipients from this $20 million grant will receive training and workforce opportunities through our community colleges,” said Bryant.
They will get assistance to attend one of five community colleges participating in the program to receive training and get a degree.
The community colleges participating in the pilot program are: Itawamba Community College at Fulton, Mississippi Delta Community College at Moorhead, East Mississippi Community College at Scooba, Jones County Junior College at Ellisville and Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College at Perkinston.
If a SNAP recipient refuses to participate in the program they could lose their benefits.
“Today, Mississippi has approximately 650,000 SNAP recipients and the hard working tax payers of this nation spend some $900,000 annually.” Bryant said, “We hope to find many of these able body recipients within the SNAP program a career.”
Mississippi was one of 10 states chosen for the grant; 38 states applied.
