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Ferguson QuikTrip

Source: Getty

The Quik-Trip convenience store that was looted and burned just hours after the fatal shooting of Michael Brown Jr. in Ferguson will soon be repurposed as a job training center, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

The now-charred structure, a daily reminder of the frustration of a community that endured decades of racially biased policing, will be demolished and replaced with a training center for young Black men — an effort brought forth by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

On Friday, the Urban League said the center would be “an important extension of its services in North County to further the League’s mission of empowering communities and changing lives.”

The center will “expand the Urban League’s work to broaden access to education/job training, employment and economic self-reliance for residents of the St. Louis metro area,” the League said in a news release.

The changes to build a “community empowerment center” will be made possible by several donors, according to the Post-Dispatch. The location will now house the Save Our Sons program — a program created to give 500 young and underemployed men a month of training before matching them with jobs. Following the shooting of Brown, St. Louis area companies contributed $1.2 million to the effort.

From the Post-Dispatch:

As part of the program announcement two months ago, two St. Louis companies — which want to remain anonymous — have promised to hire the first 40 graduates at jobs paying $10 an hour plus benefits. The Save Our Sons program, or SOS, teaches interview skills, how to impress a boss with good work and how to network to find the next job.

Specifics about the QuikTrip’s positive rebirth are expected to be released during a press conference Monday. We’ll keep you updated with the latest.

SOURCE: STL Post-Dispatch | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty

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Looted, Charred Ferguson Quik-Trip To Be Transformed Into Job Training Center  was originally published on newsone.com

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