Congress and the President recently signed into law the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, which includes additional financial assistance to unemployed vets through the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program (VRAP). Shelter's Design Build class qualifies for this program.

According to the VA website:

VRAP offers up to 12 months of training assistance to unemployed Veterans. The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and the Department of Labor (DOL) are working together to roll out this new program on July 1, 2012.

The VRAP offers 12 months of training assistance to Veterans who:

• Are at least 35 but no more than 60 years old
• Are unemployed
• Received an other than dishonorable discharge
• Are not be eligible for any other VA education benefit program (e.g.: the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Montgomery GI Bill, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Assistance)
• Are not in receipt of VA compensation due to unemployability
• Are not enrolled in a federal or state job training program

The program is limited to 45,000 participants from July 1, 2012, through September 30, 2012, and 54,000 participants from October 1, 2012, through March 31, 2014.

The program application is available on the VA website. The next Design Build class at Shelter is July 9-20. Enroll now to reserve your spot.