WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Eloise Lipscomb has called Goler Manor in Winston Salem home since 2010.
“I like it in this area and some of the other places in this area are too expensive,” she says. “I couldn`t afford that.”
the 79-unit affordable independent living facility for adults 62 and older is one of many projects built by Goler Community Development Corporation.
Michael Suggs is President of the organization, which launched in 1998 to revitalize the Goler Heights district. It borders the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter and is now home to more than 150 companies and 3,600 employees.
“10 years ago, this part of downtown was not a good place to be,” Suggs said. “It had the perception of high crime, there was barb wire fencing.”
Goler’s developed a credit union and childcare center and hundreds of units of housing — both market rate and affordable.
“What we’ve found is there were still a lot of people who couldn’t afford the affordable housing,” Suggs said. “So we decided we needed to develop our workforce so they could get some of these high paying jobs at innovation quarter.”
And that’s where Goler’s new initiative called TechCareers2020 comes in.
“We provide coaching for them. We have a case manager that works with them,” he said. “A lot of times people don’t know how to navigate through the system that exists, so what we`re doing is helping them navigate that system.”
Collaborating with Forsyth Tech and NC Works, it helps unemployed and underemployed adults in Forsyth County land good-paying jobs in the quickly growing knowledge-based economy at Innovation Quarter.
“If you don’t have STEM education by the time you’re 19, you’re not going to participate in this new economy,” said Wake Forest Innovation Quarter President Eric Tomlinson. “It’s pretty clear that that is a requirement. So the training that’s being undertaken here along with other groups is crucial.”
Learn more here.
