Mission

To continue to be the nation's leader in providing quality education, training, employment, and housing services through a national network of local affiliated organizations enabling economically disadvantaged people of all races and backgrounds to become productive fulfilled members of the American society.
OICA utilizes the following long-term strategies:
  • Prepare adults for the world of work
The best social service in the world is a job. Working adults are able to provide for their own families, rather than depend upon public assistance.
  • Prepare young people for their roles as responsible adults
Children will either grow up to become productive or unproductive adults. To secure the future, we must prepare youth for their roles as workers, parents, and citizens.
  • Connect workers to employers
If there is anything worse than being untrained and unemployed, it is being trained and unemployed. Vocational training is useless if it does not result in a job that provides a living wage.
  • Improve neighborhood livability
All efforts to improve our city neighborhoods are lost if new workers and potential residents view the city as an unfit place to live and to raise their families.