Pacers Gift to Benefit Erskine Green Institute

Updated: Nov 14, 2016 6:36 PM EST

By Alex Brown, Multimedia Journalist
Courtesy of Inside Indiana Business
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The funding will be used, in part, to purchase computers and software to teach students front desk agent skills.

MUNCIE – The Muncie-based Erskine Green Training Institute (EGTI) has received a $50,000 donation from the Pacers Foundation and Pacers Sports and Entertainment. The money will be used to purchase training equipment for the institute’s learning lab, which will be renamed the Indiana Pacers Learning Lab.The institute was established by the Arc of Indiana Foundation and provides training to people with disabilities in the food service, hospitality and healthcare industries. The first classes began in January in the Courtyard Muncie at Horizon Convention Center.

“The Pacers Foundation and Pacers Sports and Entertainment award will allow EGTI to purchase computers and software to teach EGTI students front desk agent skills, folding tables to teach laundry skills, metal food prep tables to teach food prep skills, and go pro cameras to create training videos for students,” said Jill Vaught, executive director of the Arc of Indiana Foundation. “All will be used onsite in the new Indiana Pacers Learning Lab. The Arc greatly appreciates the Pacers contribution to helping individuals with disabilities gain important job skills.”

Students at the institute receive classroom instruction learning specific job skills, then have the chance to put those skills into practice through on-the-job training and internships at Courtyard Muncie, Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. or IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital.

The donation will be presented Monday night at halftime of the Indiana Pacers game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Carl Erskine and Steve Green, after whom the institute is named, will accept the award.

EGTI Recipient of First-Ever Driver of Innovative Service and Implementation Award

Nov. 11, 2016

The Indiana Interagency Autism Coordinating Council (IIACC) has recognized EGTI as the recipient of the first-ever Driver of Innovative Service and Implementation (DISI) award. HANDS in Autism Interdisciplinary Training and Resource Center highlighted EGTI’s work in its monthly newsletter this week. Their recognition reads:

We are proud to congratulate Erskine Green Training Institute (EGTI) as the recipient of the Indiana Interagency Autism Coordinating Council’s first Driver of Innovative Service and Implementation (DISI) award! EGTI offers comprehensive vocational training curriculums that provide individuals with disabilities valuable job skills, preparing them for employment in the hospitality, health care support, and food service industries.  Participants in EGTI’s training programs receive instruction on topics related to health and wellness, life skills, and job-specific subjects before participating in hands-on job shadowing opportunities.  In addition, EGTI provides students with mentors and tutors to enrich their experience at the Training Institute.  EGTI’s combination of training and on-site internship programming seeks to lower the 82% unemployment rate among disabled individuals, including those with ASD and other disorders, and the program’s partnerships with employers in the City of Muncie exemplify the types of community-based collaborations that fuel the mission of the IIACC.  Visit EGTI’s website to learn more or to apply for admission,.