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When Alex first applied to Cook Inlet Tribal Council’s (CITC) Health Program Opportunities Grant Health Care Training program funded by the Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program of the Office of Family Assistance, he found out he was going to be a father for the first time. Though his family was eligible for public assistance, and relied on that support, Alex was hired as a full-time gas station attendant and was no longer eligible.

Alex had always wanted to be in the healthcare field. He thought he’d make a good certified nursing assistant (CNA) because he’d taken care of an aging relative as a teen. In addition to his own aspirations, Alex was now a young father and he wanted to make a better life for his growing family. When Alex came to CITC HPOG he was unsure how he would pay for school to pursue his dream. Fortunately, when Alex went to apply for cash assistance he was told about the HPOG program and applied to participate in August 2011. He attended the CNA orientation and job shadow requirements orientation meetings, and his application was selected for the Winter 2012 CNA training. Alex did very well in the training and completed all the necessary requirements to become a licensed CNA, but soon hit a roadblock that nearly derailed his progress. The Alaska Board of Nursing would not license him based on findings from his criminal background check. A mistake from Alex’s youth had caught up with him and threatened his future. Alex would not be allowed to take the required National Certification Licensure Examination until he satisfied all inquires from the Alaska Board of Nursing (Board). CITC helped Alex respond to and address all concerns of the Board. Alex credits the encouragement and guidance from CITC staff with keeping him going and not losing hope.

Ricardo (Ricky) is a resident of Essex County, New Jersey and one of four children born to Haitian immigrant and Hispanic parents. Neither of his parents went to college, and both struggled daily for a better life. Ricardo saw and experienced their struggles first hand. Those childhood experiences fueled his passion to help others and his desire to be career driven.

Choosing a career direction, however, was a challenge for Ricky because he enjoyed so many things. He was drawn to the medical field, in part, because of how he envisioned medical professionals, and particularly, doctors as helping and making a difference in so many people’s lives. But, he was also interested in law enforcement and the restaurant industry. Settling on the medical field, Ricky faced many challenges as a student with no financial support from his parents or other family members. Ricky graduated from high school and started a nursing program at Essex, but lost his way and did not have the support he needed to finish and dropped out. He went to work at temporary agencies and other dead-end jobs just to make ends meet, but the dream of attaining medical credentials never left him.

When Ricky decided to go back to school to pursue his passion with the medical field, he found Essex County College’s Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program, funded by the Office of Family Assistance and administered by the Northern New Jersey Health Professions Consortium. Through Essex County College, Training Inc. was offering entry-level certification classes in allied health that Ricky knew would be challenging, but becoming financially stable weighed heavily on his mind. Ricky learned quickly that Training Inc. was the right choice, being known for its success in job placement after training ends. He struggled through school working as a night security guard from 12 a.m. to 8 a.m. in the morning and then rushed to be at class from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., rarely sleeping., He persevered and made it through the course!

People. Partnership. Potential. These are the three tenets that guide the Cook Inlet Tribal Council (CITC) in Alaska. They are also the motivators that connected a driven and conscientious member of Anchorage’s Alaskan Native community with Healthcare Training Program at CITC, an HPOG program funded by the Office of Family Assistance.

For nearly a decade, this woman, CB, has worked tirelessly for non-profits serving the Native Alaska community while also taking certification and licensing courses in real estate, professional development, and management.

Advancing her own prospects was not the only motivation behind taking on so much responsibility, and she was looking for a more hands-on way to make a medical impact on those in the Alaskan Native community.

It’s the unofficial state motto of Nebraska that adorns road signs and greets travelers as they pass by the fields of wild grass and perfect rows of corn that fill the state. For those who come to the nation’s heartland looking for something better, “The Good Life” is not so much a welcome or a promise as it is a question; a riddle whose answer lies somewhere between aspiration and reality.

For Raquel Renteria, the road to the good life in her adopted state started with a healthcare training program funded by HPOG through the Office of Family Assistance.

Mai’s family of seven struggled for many years despite her husband’s wages and public assistance. Mai’s business degree lead to inconsistent work, and she soon found herself at home taking care of her family. She knew that she was going to have to make a change to provide the type of life she wanted for her five kids.

In July of 2016, Mai went to the local Department of Human Services office to find a solution. While in the office she noticed a poster for the HPOG-funded Partnership to STEP UP in Health Careers (STEP UP) program operated by Chicago State University. By August of 2016, Mai was selected as a participant and enrolled at South Suburban College to start pre-requisite courses required to enter the Occupational Therapy Assistant (OTA) Program.

This memorandum transmits the edits and transmission file layouts for the TANF Data Report and the SSP-MOE Data Report that go into effect on October 1, 2006 for FQ 2007-1 (i.e., Oct-06 - Dec-06). data reporting period and thereafter.

As a result of her nearly 3-year participation in the WATCH Project , a Health Profession Opportunity Grants (HPOG) program funded by the Office of Family Assistance, Sarina is on her way up the nursing career ladder, working as a new Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and finishing her first semester in a Registered Nurse (RN) Associates’ Degree program.

This infographic visually depicts the extensive network of support services provided by HPOG to help participants overcome barriers to training and employment, following the career pathways model.

Misty says a simple scripture, 2 Corinthians 12:9, has enabled her to endure the last few years of her life: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” The “perfect life” she thought she had came crumbling down when suddenly she found herself divorced, with four young children and a fifth on the way. She moved back to Louisiana with no job, no income, and no help from her children’s father, and she had to sign up for state assistance through the Family Independence Temporary Assistance Program (FITAP). Soon she found out that FITAP had a program called STEP (Strategies to Empower People) that would allow her to further her education. Determined not to become reliant on state assistance, she decided to return to college and attain the education she would need to become self-sufficient. Her goal was to become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN). She had been to college before, but had never been a college student and single mother at the same time. This experience was about to show her just how strong she was as well as how strong her faith in God was.

Stanley Redus was recruited from the Haven for Hope, which is one of San Antonio's homeless shelters. He had encountered some life difficulties, a little later in life, which had left him homeless and with no other option but to resort to temporary assistance at the shelter. Alamo Colleges had been sharing the HPOG training program opportunities with residents and managers throughout the year during on-site information sessions and through the posting of flyers. While assisting with services at the shelter one day, Stanley got hold of one of those flyers, one about the upcoming Material Management and Central Supply training program.