10 Jul Pittsburg Starts ‘Self-Sufficiency’ Program for Some Low-Income Residents

Pittsburg Vice Mayor Dionne Adams described the new Self-Sufficiency Pilot Training Program as “another way that we are trying to make sure we have economic vitality in our city, where folks who live here can work, play and live here.” (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Pittsburg is launching a pilot job training program for some low-income residents in an effort to help them gain financial independence.

The Pittsburg City Council on Monday approved the creation of the Self-Sufficiency Pilot Training Program, which will connect Housing Choice Voucher, sometimes known as Section 8, recipients with job training and skill-building opportunities. 

With the help of community organizations Opportunity Junction, Future Build, Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center and St. Vincent de Paul, participants can receive job skills counseling, training in skilled trades, and career coaching. 

“It’s another way that we are trying to make sure we have economic vitality in our city, where folks who live here can work, play and live here,” said Vice Mayor Dionne Adams. 

The city expects to enroll around 10 families per year in the program, according to the accompanying staff report. Participants will go through a selection process that will include expressing interest in the program, completing a program orientation and the completion of a service plan. 

In Contra Costa County, the area median income for a family of four in 2025 is $159,800, according to the California State Department of Housing and Development. For a family of four who is a HCV recipient, the median income is $79,900. 

Council member Angelica Lopez said she hopes the pilot can eventually be expanded so that it will also be available to residents who are on the HCV waiting list. 

“With the idea that we want to remove them from the waitlist, so that they don’t even have to become HCV recipients,” she said. “It’s not so much that they don’t want to (stop receiving assistance) but that they can’t because they don’t have the skills necessary to get a better job or go into a program such as these.”

The program was first listed as a city goal that had been in the pipeline for implementation in the 2025-26 fiscal year. The Life Enrichment Subcommittee then recommended the program for approval at its Feb. 19 meeting, asking the city to gauge interest by conducting a survey among HCV recipients. 

Approximately 100 people responded out of the 820 they tried to reach, the city said. The response to the program was positive, with respondents expressing interest in training related to computer skills, administrative and office work, healthcare work and general job preparation. 

Though respondents noted that lack of education or childcare were challenges to improving employment or education, some said that support related to transportation, childcare, financial support and flexible schedules would help them be successful in the pilot program. 

All HCV recipients will be notified of program availability, the city said. Outreach efforts will include sending informational materials to related community organizations, informational meetings on what the program features and requires, and mailings or electronic communications being sent out. 

Though the program is currently referred to as the “Self-Sufficiency Pilot Training Program,” City Manager Garrett Evans said there were talks to change the program’s name. 

You can learn more about what services the program organizations offer through their flyers here and more about the pilot program here.