CTUIR TERO Helping People Obtain Job Skills with HECC Grants

MISSION – The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR) Tribal Employment Rights Office (TERO) is helping people enhance their job skills after receiving two grants from the state’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission (HECC).

TERO Apprenticeship Training Coordinator Michelle Bratlie said one grant is for service-learning education, while the other is for on-the-job training. Together the grants total $52,500 and will continue the development of individuals needing employment-related certifications as well as provide opportunities for paid job-skills training for up to five weeks.

“I am very excited for TERO Training to be awarded these two grants for the youth in our area,” Bratlie said. “It enables training to continue for those youth who are wanting to enter the construction world for a career. Providing the training that TERO can offer assists those with safety and health training, along with certifications in areas that can be difficult to achieve except by joining a union or contractor who can provide that training or by paying the costs that people cannot afford because other priorities must come first. This grant takes that barrier away and can open opportunities that people have the desire to take advantage.”

TERO plans to braid the two grants together to complement each other. However, in the beginning the plan will focus on Service-Learning Education before threading participants through On-the-Job Training to put learned skills into action.

Bratlie said after completing training, individuals would be steps ahead when applying to unions and construction prospects as they get a view of what opportunities are available to them to make informed decisions about their futures.

“Participants can have the basic certifications needed for construction sites in this area and take advantage of the career opportunities they might not have had access to before going through the offered trainings. The most important impact is that participants can choose what they want to do as a career and support their families with earning a good wage with benefits,” she said.

Bratlie added that TERO would continue targeting CTUIR members, descendants and spouses for training and offer resources encompassing all facets of employment.

“TERO is working to provide well-rounded training opportunities for those who are interested and are wanting to use training opportunities to fight against historical trauma, alcohol/drug abuse, domestic violence and neglect,” she said. “If you want to work, you should get to work. This is a group effort in going after the root of the challenges we all see today, and this is just the beginning. Let’s train, let’s work, let’s pivot.”

For more information, call 541-429-7506 or email terostaff@ctuir.org.

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation is comprised of the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Tribes, and formed under the Treaty of 1855 at the Walla Walla Valley, 12 Stat. 945. In 1949, the Tribes adopted a constitutional form of government to protect, preserve and enhance the reserved treaty rights guaranteed under federal law.