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With the second round of Health Profession Opportunity Grants coming to a close, the GoodCare Career Pathways Program began looking for alternative training options. Facilitated by Goodwill Industries of the Valleys, GoodCare uses a three-part behavioral change model designed to integrate supportive, educational, and workplace services in healthcare training. GoodCare also provides the environment and encouragement needed to succeed in their three occupation healthcare tracks: nursing, health information, and healthcare support. Limited time and funding in the last year of the Health Profession Opportunity Grants does not allow for the usual training programs or approach to services in these tracks. Ever adaptable to participant needs, GoodCare set out to build a new training that fit.

The Health Education Laddering Program (HELP) at Central Community College (CCC) is no stranger to growth. Along with project partners Southeast Community College, Northeast Community College, and Mid-Plains Community College, CCC engages TANF recipients and other low-income individuals in healthcare education and training. The ultimate goal is to place them on a career pathway to healthcare occupations that pay well and are in high demand. Through scaling up their strategies and interventions over time, Project HELP has gone from one college serving a 14,000-square­mile, 25-county service area to four colleges serving a 60,382-square-mile, 77-county service area.

Before he discovered the Health Professions Opportunity Grant (HPOG) Buffalo program at Buffalo and Erie County Workforce Development Consortium, Inc., Jacob considered himself a typical example of the working class poor. He lived paycheck to paycheck, working dead-end jobs with no direction. At the end of the day, he barely made enough money to support himself. While he received Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) benefits, he made too much to qualify for food stamps. Times were difficult for Jacob and he desperately wanted to make a change in his life.

During an appointment at the Women, Infants, & Children office, Iris came across a flyer for San Jacinto College’s Health Career Pathways Partnership (HCPP) and saw an opportunity to become a registered nurse. HCPP offered free healthcare tuition and support services to help her succeed in a new career.

Autumn experienced hardships until the Work Attributes Toward Careers in Health (WATCH) program gave her the support she needed to become self-sufficient.

Amy is no stranger to struggle. Over the past thirty years she fought a long, painful battle with alcoholism and dependency. She struggled with homelessness, battled cancer, and at her lowest point, was incarcerated for four years. Her life lacked stability, purpose and direction. Having lost everything at the age of 50, she needed to confront the harmful patterns in her life. “I had to break down every inch of my soul to find the strength to dig into the very roots of my self-destruction,” she recalls. She knew the road to recovery and self-realization would not be an easy one, but she was determined and excited to begin the journey.

Originally from Brooklyn, NY, Veasia could no longer afford to live in her neighborhood due to gentrification. She was serving in the US Army as a diesel mechanic and had just gone through a divorce. She moved to Albany, NY to serve as a caregiver for her sick grandmother. Shortly after the move, Veasia was scheduled to deploy to Iraq when she found out she was pregnant with triplets Veasia did not know how she would be able to raise three children without the help of her now ex-husband.

As a single mother of two, Shawna relocated her family from Michigan to Washington state in 2017. With help from nearby relatives, Shawna moved in with her aunt in search of a fresh start in a new city.

Shawna visited the Renton Community Service Office to begin the process of transferring her Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from out of state. During the meeting with her TANF case manager, Shawna expressed her interest in dentistry and completing her high school degree. Shawna’s case manager knew the Health Workforce for the Future (HWF) program run by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle - King County would be a perfect fit for her. HWF supports progress toward economic self-sufficiency for low-income residents of the Seattle-King County area by offering tuition for healthcare training and support services.

A member of the Spirit Lake tribe, Margo spent much of her early life on the reservation working odd jobs to provide for herself and her family. During this time, she worked in customer service, early childhood education, and administration. She was content in these jobs but always wanted to return to school and earn a degree in a field that appealed to her.

Grand Island, NE

Project HELP

Showing up to the wrong place at the right time turns into a new opportunity.

When Sandra lost her job, she was shocked, worried, and scared. But thanks to Project HELP she found hope and a new sense of purpose. Sandra worked at the ShopKo in O’Neil, NE for over five years. She started as seasonal help and eventually worked her way up to Floor Supervisor. Unfortunately, the store closed, laying off nearly 20 people. In a small town like O’Neil, that meant a lot of people out of work and competing for what few jobs were available.