HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The Getting Urgent Assistance Mobilized to Support Typhoon Repairs On Guam, or GUAM STRONG, initiative, a project to help repair households impacted by Typhoon Mawar, is recruiting workers through the National Dislocated Worker Grant (NDWG) Program, according to a press release from the Joint Information Center.
GUAM STRONG was first launched in August 2023 through coordinated efforts between Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense, the Mayors’ Council of Guam and Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide minimal essential repairs to make homes safe, sanitary and functional. Participants were pre-selected through a review process based on a pre-identified need. The process prioritized elderly residents, veterans and those with access and functional needs. Repairs on homes were approved until November 2023 and performed by skilled volunteers from nonprofit organizations, the release stated.
GUAM STRONG has now expanded to begin recruiting workers through the NDWG Program so work can continue through Feb. 25. The Guam Department of Labor, in partnership with FEMA, is hiring 30 individuals to assist team leads to continue repairs on homes damaged by Typhoon Mawar. Participants must meet certain criteria to qualify.
The priority for eligibility will be given to individuals temporarily or permanently laid off as a consequence of Typhoon Mawar, dislocated workers or displaced homemakers, and people who have been unemployed for a long term.
The program defines a dislocated worker as an individual who has been terminated or laid off or has received a notice of termination or layoff from employment.
A displaced homemaker is defined as an individual who has worked in the home for a number of years and suddenly finds that they are the primary source of household income.
The program defines a long-term unemployed candidate as one who was unemployed at the time of eligibility determination, who has been unemployed for 12 or more nonconsecutive weeks over the last 26 weeks, and who has made an effort to find a job or is an incarcerated individual within six months of release. A long-term unemployed candidate may also include a person who is underemployed at the time of eligibility determination, who has been unemployed for 12 or more nonconsecutive weeks of the last 26 weeks, and who has made an effort to find a job with self-sustaining wages/hours.
Interested applicants are encouraged to apply at the American Job Center (AJC) located at the GCIC Building in Hagåtña from Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. For more information, contact the AJC at 671-475-7000/1.
The debris of a home that was destroyed from Typhoon Mawar on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, in Barrigada.
