OUR HISTORY
"We see no Alps"
The mission of Waterbury Opportunities Industrialization Center, (WOIC), is to train men and women with untapped talents and unknown skills who are without a job and underemployed–providing them with a sense of economic security while fostering a sense of self-pride, giving them confidence, and enabling them to participate with dignity in the total society. WOIC seeks to stimulate loyalty and pride in the community and develop an awareness of an individual's relationship and responsibility toward all mankind. WOIC will always aim to develop the "whole person" and create self-reliant communities comprised of empowered and engaged individuals, who improve their quality of life and alleviate poverty.
The Joseph Jaynes Center
Transformed from an abandoned bakery -The Joseph Jaynes Center at 77-79 Bishop Street is named after the first WOIC Executive Director.
The center is complete and outfitted with wi-fi and high speed computers to equip our clients and the community to compete for jobs and success. Our center is also home to the Greater Waterbury Re-Entry Welcome Center for returning citizens and the UnGroup, a youth empowerment program.
The Exective Director of WOIC
Reginald G. Beamon, executive director of WOIC Inc. since 1998 and retired Connecticut State Legislator, oversaw the designing of the new facility. Reggie is also Director of WOIC's internet platform-2WOICX. com. A college lecturer and writer, he also wrote a monthly column “Ringing the Bell” based on the principles of Reverend Sullivan’s renown book “Build, Brother Build” for the Waterbury Observer.
Rev. Leon H. Sullivan
Reginald G. Beamon wasn't long out of college back in the 1970s when community activist, the late Kay Wyrick, gave him a book to read. It was called, "Build, Brother, Build." The book was by the Rev. Leon H. Sullivan, who wrote of his experiences creating the first Opportunities Industrialization Center, a now international organization of local nonprofit agencies devoted to career training, life skills, and other services geared toward enabling the unemployed or underemployed to become self-sufficient, productive workers.