Pima County One-Stop Career Center is preparing to open the nation’s first workforce center aimed at helping military veterans find jobs and get training, benefits and support services.

The center will also help employers hire veterans.

The Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center is scheduled to open Monday, July 16, at 2801 E. Ajo Way, next door to the Kino Service Center at 2979 E. Ajo Way.

Due to an incorrect media report of an earlier opening date, Program Manager Art Burrola said Thursday that a staff member will be at the center on Monday, July 2, to direct veterans to appropriate resources.

A grand opening is planned for a later date.

The Veterans’ Center will be a partnership of the Pima County One-Stop Career Center with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, the Arizona Departments of Veterans Services and Economic Security, Pima Community College, Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, the Pima County Health Department, and Old Pueblo Community Services.

To improve the quality of service to veterans, reduce unnecessary duplication and maximize available resources, the partners will coordinate to offer services and streamlined resource referrals under one roof, and to share leadership, costs, information and data.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans jumped to 12.7 percent in May, up from 9.2 percent the previous month.  The national unemployment rate for May was 8.2 percent.

In addition to employment assistance, returning veterans also often need housing, health care and other support services.

The Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center will offer veterans:

• Peer support, drop-in and welcome
• Career counseling and job search assistance
• Computer labs and office equipment
• Benefits counseling and claims assistance – education, medical care, disability
• Assistance with housing and other basic needs during transition to employment
• Guidance and financial assistance for training and education programs
• Adult education, tutoring and study skills
• Behavioral health services and recovery

Employers who hire unemployed veterans between Nov. 21, 2011, and Jan. 1, 2013, may qualify for:

• A Returning Heroes Tax Credit of up to $2,400 if the veteran has been unemployed for at least four weeks or up to $5,600 if the veteran has been unemployed for more than six months.
• A Wounded Warrior Tax Credit of up to $9,600 if the veteran has been unemployed for more than six months and has service-connected disabilities.

For more information, call 243-6700.

Are you looking for an affordable home to buy in Pima County?

Pima County is partnering with the City of Tucson and seven local nonprofits to make energy-efficient new and existing homes available and affordable with the help of $22 million in federal stimulus funds that Pima County received in 2010.

Low- to moderate-income individuals and families may qualify for $8,000 in down payment assistance to buy a foreclosed and vacant home in an area south of 22^nd Street.

Prospective homebuyers can find out more about the homes and the programs aimed at making them affordable at the Pima Neighborhood Investment Partnership Open House on Saturday, March 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3810 S. Evans Blvd., Suite 130 (southeast of Ajo Way and Park Avenue).

Housing counselors and lenders will be available, along with refreshments and prizes.

Find out more about:

• The $8,000 Homebuyer Assistance Program available through the Community Investment Corporation.
• New, energy-efficient homes in three subdivisions — Corazon del Pueblo, one mile east of the Interstate 10/Craycroft Road interchange; Sunnyside Pointe, on South Park Avenue between East Irvington and East Drexel roads; and Liberty Corners, near South Liberty Avenue and West Iowa Street – being built by Habitat for Humanity Tucson, Old Pueblo Community Services and Chicanos Por La Causa, respectively.
• Rehabilitated and energy-efficient foreclosed homes with low mortgages (80 percent of appraised value) and only $1,500 out of pocket through Pima County Community Land Trust.
• Rehabilitated foreclosed homes and energy-efficient manufactured houses in the City of South Tucson available through Primavera Foundation.

For more information about the partners and their programs, call 520-243-4663 or go to the Pima Neighborhood Investment Partnership website: www.pnip.org.

Get down payment assistance; attend March 24 open house

Are you looking for an affordable home to buy in Pima County?

Low- to moderate-income individuals and families may qualify for $8,000 in down payment assistance to buy a foreclosed and vacant home in an area south of 22^nd Street (see attached map).

Pima County is partnering with the City of Tucson and seven local nonprofits to make energy-efficient new and existing homes available and affordable with the help of $22 million in federal stimulus funds that Pima County received in 2010.

Prospective homebuyers can find out more about the homes and the programs aimed at making them affordable at the Pima Neighborhood Investment Partnership Open House on Saturday, March 24, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 3810 S. Evans Blvd., Suite 130 (southeast of Ajo Way and Park Avenue).

Housing counselors and lenders will be available, along with refreshments and prizes.

Find out more about:

• the $8,000 Homebuyer Assistance Program available through the Community Investment Corporation.
• new, energy-efficient homes in three subdivisions — Corazon del Pueblo, one mile east of the Interstate 10/Craycroft Road interchange; Sunnyside Pointe, on South Park Avenue between East Irvington and East Drexel roads; and Liberty Corners, near South Liberty Avenue and West Iowa Street – being built by Habitat for Humanity Tucson, Old Pueblo Community Services and Chicanos Por La Causa, respectively.
• Rehabilitated and energy-efficient foreclosed homes with low mortgages (80 percent of appraised value) and only $1,500 out of pocket through Pima County Community Land Trust.
• Rehabilitated foreclosed homes and energy-efficient manufactured houses in the City of South Tucson available through Primavera Foundation.

For more information about the partners and their programs, call 520-243-4663 or go to the Pima Neighborhood Investment Partnership website: www.pnip.org.