Northbrook-based company, UMF|PerfectCLEAN, has forged a significant partnership with RefugeeOne with the objective of facilitating workforce training for refugees across Chicago. The alliance is crafted with a dual aim in sight: not only to empower refugees to enter the workforce and establish stable lives but also to assist Chicago-area employers in staffing their open roles. It is a noteworthy strategy that, within three weeks of training, ensured employment for all participants in its inaugural training cohort back in December. This initiative falls in alignment with RefugeOne’s primary mission to empower refugees from various ethnic demographics, ages, faiths, and backgrounds to become self-sufficient, contributing members to their communities in the Chicagoland area. UMF|PerfectCLEAN’s training program is built primarily to equip the refugees with a broad range of skills applicable in high-demand sectors like environmental services, hospitality, and custodial services.
Contextually the program entails arming the trainees with the capability to handle various tasks from disinfection of hotel guest rooms and hospital rooms to cleaning classrooms and other facilities. Importantly, the program, comprised of three two-hour sessions, has already shown promising results with the first cohort of 13 refugees landing job offers within a month of completing the training. Going forward, RefugeeOne is setting its sights on expanding this program even further, planning to accommodate up to 20 trainees in a forthcoming session, with the addition of training in new languages such as Arabic, Swahili, and Dari. Meanwhile, UMF|PerfectCLEAN takes pride in its role as a leader in the research and development of high-performance products and training for the infection prevention and commercial cleaning markets. The partnership extends beyond the immediate training and placement processes – it sets the stage for refugees to embark on meaningful careers in sectors struggling to fill pivotal roles, thereby contributing positively to the community. While refugees gain substantial benefits through necessary skills provision, potential employers save on recruitment and onboarding costs as the program produces employees who are work-ready from day one.