Pontiac Community Foundation and Dutton Farms team up

If 2020 taught us one thing, it is that virtual learning is here to stay. And to that end, Pontiac Community Foundation and Dutton Farms are teaming up for a virtual learning program for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults – giving them more options for education and employment.

“Partnerships like these allow us to help more people -- in Pontiac and beyond,” said Dustin McClellan, founder and CEO of Pontiac Community Foundation. “This program will allow us to serve an underserved community -- and provide real opportunities and successes.”

This program will offer valuable training in both soft skills and specific transferable job skills for vulnerable community members. Through this program, these adults will be empowered to seek employment. Currently, they are an often-overlooked group in the workforce.

"Too often, people with developmental disabilities are left with few to no options for furthering their education that are transferable to the job market,” said Jenny Brown, Dutton Farm President, CEO, Co-Founder. “This program will offer remote learning opportunities that will empower individuals who are often overlooked to become active members of the workforce.”

The partnership will offer training in these areas:
· Soft Skills
· Job Acquisition
· Job Preparation
· Finance
· Custodial
· Retail
· Horticulture
· Manufacturing
· Clerical
· Food Service

This program will be available to the community and it will also connect local employers to adults who are ready – and trained – to work. A grant from Chik Fil A helped to fund this program.

“When we received our grant funding and award from Chick fil A to launch this program in Pontiac, we knew immediately that we wanted to partner with the Pontiac Community Foundation,” said Brown. “Linking together with other mission focused partners is the key to success and we know that together, we will make a real and sustainable difference."

Information on the virtual learning program will continue to be shared with community partners in the coming months. For more information visit www.duttonfarm.org.

The Pontiac Community Foundation
The Pontiac Community Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to building a brighter future for the city through philanthropy, leadership and collaboration. Developing Pontiac’s leaders is at the core of what we do, in addition to supporting quality of life initiatives that help tackle the city’s most pressing issues. At the end of the day, we want to make Pontiac a desirable place to live, work, play and do business.