“The Merit Employment Council is more concerned with recruitment, training, employing, upgrading, and motivating persons from the most disadvantaged backgrounds — black or white.” – Charles Toney, 1968
A student taking advantage of the programs Charles set up for Quad Cities youths
Pamphlet describing recent activities of Quad Cities Merit Employment Council
On August 17, 1966, the corporate leaders from Deere & Company and others met together to discuss how to bring community programs that promoted equal opportunity to the Quad Cities area. At that meeting, they decided to organize the Quad Cities Merit Employment Council with Charles Toney acting as the first president.
The council made an effort to provide easily accessible information on employment opportunities to local minority groups. Guides were distributed all over the area that listed the businesses and industries in the area, the jobs people could get at these places, and the qualifications needed for the jobs. Listings for different jobs in the area were also broadcast on one of the local television channels (WQAD) during prime time.
Booklet from program talking about disadvantaged youths
Charles and the council knew that in order to bring equal opportunity to the Quad Cities, they needed to make a positive impact on the lives of the Quad Cities youths. Students from disadvantaged neighborhoods were invited to attend opportunity centers where professionals such as accountants, engineers, and computer personnel shared advice with students about their careers. The council set up a summer program to employ 300 students in industry positions and teach them about industry work. Council members also donated money to create a college scholarship fund for disadvantaged students.
In many schools, guidance counselors did not know how to work with minority students who believed that there were few job opportunities for them. Rather than being a resource for students, some counselors acted as disciplinarians. Charles helped to set up seminars to teach high school counselors on the problems faced by minority students. The council even set up a program for counselors to work industry jobs over the summer so that they could learn more about the local job opportunities and qualifications. Business executives also advised guidance counselors to counsel minority students in a one-on-one setting.
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