A History of Service to The Community
A Unique Idea Forms the Foundation
to
Help Change People's Lives
With the opening of the first SCOA Thrift Store, Keith Davis initiated something unique.
While providing immediate employment for people who are unemployed, impoverished, homeless
or unskilled, he also provides training for them in the retail field, an area that has endless
possibilities for future employment.
After receiving a certain number of hours of training
at the store, the trainees are assisted with finding jobs in the retail or related fields.
Within the first three years of operations, SCOA graduated over 45 people who were able to
re-enter the workplace with marketable skills, and something they may have never had before:
self-confidence. Many of SCOA’s trainees come from social service agencies and homeless shelters.
Many are told they would never qualify to hold a job or be able to keep a job if they were lucky
enough to find someone who would hire them. Many of the trainees have physical limitations that
keep employers from considering them as viable workers. Many have language barriers, little or
no education, former substance abuse problems, or a past prison record. These are the obstacles
that keep people from working and earning a decent living, and these are the obstacles that
Skill Centers of America fights everyday to help people overcome. A History of Service to the Community
SCOA became a haven for many who had been turned down before, a stepping stone to a better quality of life for many who
thought they didn’t care anymore. Keith Davis knew that having a skill, a good job, and a
regular paycheck, could help someone feel better about themselves and provide a start to a new
future. He knew that education was the key, and in 1991, SCOA began to unlock doors for even
more people so they could begin a better life. Keith's
second vision, Skill Centers of America
College, was the beginning of a whole new level of educational opportunities.
SCOA College Opens Doors For the San Diego Community
The opening of Skill Centers of America College was truly an open door to new opportunities for
many people. Knowing that computers would be essential in future businesses, the curriculum has
been designed to provide computer training in every area of study. Within six years, SCOA College
has become San Diego’s leader in vocational rehabilitation education, and has graduated over 300
students. The college offers diploma and certificate programs in computer operations, administrative
secretary, medical office specialist, hospitality, printing, retail merchandising, customer service,
collections, multi-media and computerized accounting. The College is certified and approved by the
State Department of Education, and reached a new milestone with the opening of a satellite campus
in San Marcos in 1995.
By providing scholarships for students who are physically challenged and
economically disadvantaged, SCOA College has become a beacon to many who believed higher education
was never within their reach. The programs are designed to provide immediate skills, and the job
placement services are designed to put those skills to work as soon as possible. SCOA College offers
a quality education that is backed by The Skill Centers of America motto:
"give a man a fish, you feed
him for a day;
teach a man to fish, you feed him for life."
A New Vision: Seeing The Future in The Children
After the realization of a number of visions for Keith Davis and the SCOA organization, which in 1997
included two thrift store training centers, a commercial printing training center, and two college
campuses, the next step was to design a program for a new generation. In March of 1997, the SCOA
Children’s Center became a reality. The Children’s Center was not designed to be just another day care
center in San Diego. It is a school, like all the other centers that embody SCOA. The preschool program
has been designed to initiate and instill in children a love of learning that begins at the earliest
stages of childhood and will continue through their college years. SCOA Children’s Center, licensed
by the state of California, along with SCOA’s other training centers, has created one of the largest
nonprofit educational institutions in Southern California.
|
