The Lowe’s Foundation awarded $500,000 to Valencia College last week as a part of a select group of community and technical colleges receiving Gable Grants. Valencia College will use the funds to launch a new plumbing program at its Heart of Florida United Way Center for Accelerated Training, located just off Mercy Drive in Orlando. The short-term program is scheduled to begin in February 2025.
“Thanks to the generous support of the Lowe’s Gable Grant, Valencia College will launch a new plumbing program at one of the college’s Centers for Accelerated Training, which is located in an economically disadvantaged area of Orlando. Learning these skills and earning nationally recognized Industry certifications, graduates of this accelerated skills training program can not only improve their lives, but that of their families and communities as well,” said Joe Battista, vice president of workforce, career and professional education at Valencia College.
“With enrollments rising at vocationally focused schools, these community colleges are blossoming arenas for entrepreneurship and economic mobility,” said Janice Dupré, Lowe’s executive vice president of human resources and chair of the Lowe’s Foundation. “Each college has a clear, inspired vision for closing the trades gap in its community, and we’re pleased to welcome them to our larger movement.”
From funding new skilled trades facilities and instructors to accreditation programs, the grants will support carpentry and construction, HVAC, electrical, plumbing and appliance repair training. These grants build on the foundation’s first cohort of community college Gable Grants announced in 2023 and are the latest in the Lowe’s Foundation’s five-year, $50 million commitment to support the training of 50,000 people for skilled trades careers.
Since 2023, the Lowe’s Foundation has awarded more than $25 million in Gable Grants to 35 organizations offering innovative and scalable skilled trades training across the U.S.
The next Gable Grant application cycle for community-based nonprofits will run from Aug. 1 to Aug. 31. To learn more about the pressing challenges facing the skilled trades, visit Lowes.com/Foundation.
