Mount Wachusett Community College and Fitchburg State College have been awarded a three-year, $585,000 AmeriCorps grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service to address joblessness and job preparedness in north central Massachusetts in a unified regional approach.

The award is among the first of 329 made nationally under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act to help improve lives and strengthen communities throughout the country. The colleges will receive an allocation, of $195,000 each year to fund the AmeriCorps Job Ready Project, which will place 15 full-time AmeriCorps members at 12 community sites throughout the region to increase career awareness, job readiness and career exploration skills of north central Massachusetts residents. The project will address the region’s high unemployment rate through job preparedness and career exploration activities designed to assist three distinct target populations: high school and middle school students; college students and alumni; and the economically disadvantaged unemployed, those who are underemployed, and dislocated workers.