Vocational Skills Program Opens On West Side

Dr. LaShondra Kyle is the Executive Director of Eden Career Institute. PHOTO PROVIDED BY EDEN CAREER INSTITUTE.
Dr. LaShondra Kyle is the Executive Director of Eden Career Institute. PHOTO PROVIDED BY EDEN CAREER INSTITUTE.

Vocational Skills Program Opens On West Side

By Tia Carol Jones

Eden Career Institute (ECI) recently celebrated the opening of its faith-based vocational skills program. ECI is the vision of Dr. Bill Winston, Founder and Senior Pastor of Living Word Christian Center, which is located in Forest Park, Ill. Winston, an advocate of the Booker T. Washington model of providing people with indispensable skills that will enable them to be purposeful in their communities, on the job and in their families, wanted to provide vocational skills training to people in the Chicagoland area.

Eden Career Institute has online and onsite apprenticeship programs. The onsite apprenticeship program will take place at mHUB, located at 1623 W. Fulton St., in Chicago, Ill. Those programs include advanced manufacturing, construction trades and clean energy trades. The online programs include professional development – resume assistance, conflict resolution training, time management skills training and certification for HR generalist, cybersecurity, bookkeeping and network security. Web design, graphic design and allied health training – medical and billing clerk certification. In all, ECI has about 45 different certification programs for people to choose from.

Dr. LaShondra Kyle, Executive Director of Eden Career Institute, said with a focus on clean energy jobs, there is a demand for workers to be trained to fill those jobs, which makes the training ECI provides timely and important.

“This seemed like an opportune time to create a vocational institution that would provide the workplace development needs and workplace training for companies and entities that need tradesmen and tradeswomen today,” Kyle said.

Kyle said ECI, like Joseph Business School, is separate, but Living Word Christian Center is the parent. Kyle said that ECI is a faith-based organization with God first and a servant attitude towards the students and the community. Kyle said the benefit of having a faith-based, faith-centered career institute allows for thinking about the whole student, not just about providing skills training.

Because they focus on the whole student, ECI looks at the needs of the student, their needs like housing, transportation, mental health and wellness. The goal is for the student grow as a person along their journey of life.

“I believe that makes us different, because we’re looking at moving you forward in life, to not just get better for yourself, but so you leave a lasting legacy for your family. We’re trying to give you dignity of work and build your character, not just your skillset,” Kyle said.

As the Executive Director, Kyle’s vision is that ECI would be a viable choice for people in the Chicagoland area and to be included in the conversations of people’s options when considering what they want to do in life. She also wants ECI to be a consideration for people who are making a transition in life. Kyle said the name Eden was chosen, with the hope that people would come, grow and become better. She wants to see the students who participate at ECI to not only graduate, but to be retained in their employment, as well as have them refer their friends and family to ECI.

Kyle wants ECI to serve the community in ways that will benefit them and have them share their good experience with others. She reiterated that Winston wants ECI to be a place of growth, while serving them and providing opportunities for people to change their lives and their situations.

For more information about Eden Career Institute, visit https://edencareerinstitute.com.

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