AWS FOUNDATION DONATES SOUTH CENTRAL CAMPUS TO BLUE JACKET, INC.

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By Virginia Alvino

The Fort Wayne nonprofit Blue Jacket, Inc. no longer has to pay rent. The AWS Foundation donated a quarter acre campus to the workforce training organization last week.

Blue Jacket had been leasing their 19,000 square foot building for two years.The building on South Calhoun Street near Downtown Fort Wayne has a history of serving underprivileged residents – from people with disabilities to refugees; it now houses Blue Jacket’s programs for disadvantaged job seekers, including ex-offenders.

Blue Jacket executive Director Tony Hudson says this donation ensures that his organization will be able to serve Fort Wayne for a long time.

“When you love a mission as much as you do, and you have entities like the AWS foundation that find value in our service, we are humbled," Hudson says. "And we are very thankful that they believe in our mission enough that they want us to stay long term.”

Also on the property is a thrift store where the organization sells business professional clothing to the public, and an urban garden cultivated by the community.