Jasmin wanted to make a better life for her daughter. Thanks to you, she found the support she needed to forge a new career path.

“My daughter changed my life. I wanted to be the best person I could be and wanted to give my daughter everything I didn’t have growing up as a child.”

When her daughter was three years old, Jasmin enrolled her in our Head Start program. Jasmin and her wife, Lidia, were thrilled to see their daughter thrive in a caring environment where she was developing critical skills that would set her up for success in kindergarten. And the free child care made it possible to work and support the family.

It was hard though. Jasmin was working as a caregiver in an assisted living facility and doing in-home care. While the work was rewarding, the pay was low, and the hours were inconvenient and unpredictable.

During this time, Jasmin learned about an opportunity to join our Whole Family Approach program, a job training program designed for parents of Head Start children. Seeing the opportunity to advance her skills and earning potential, she jumped at it.

The Whole Family Approach is one example of our holistic approach to helping families increase their income and economic stability. The program provides training to become certified as a Sterile Processing Technician, a position in the health care field that promises a career with better pay and opportunities for advancement. The program also provides training on employment-seeking skills such as resume writing and interviewing, as well as on-going coaching and other support.

Jasmin began the intense 10-week training class. It was hard to keep up with studying while also keeping enough hours at work. But thanks to donors like you, Community Action was able to help pay the family’s rent, allowing her to focus more of her mental energy on her studies.

Jasmin worked hard to successfully complete the training, and then immediately landed a job at Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital. Her pay has increased by 25%, and she now has health care and retirement benefits. She feels so relieved and proud to have this new level of economic security. And she is also thrilled to have an exciting new career with opportunities for advancement.

As she reflects on how challenging it was to do the program, she says, “I knew it was going to be hard. But it was hard for a short time – instead of a lifetime of hard that you struggle with forever.”

Jasmin is so grateful to donors like you who make this work possible. She says, "I don't think I could have done it without Community Action, and I will always be grateful for that." 

Read more stories of how your support is making a difference.