Kasandra Miranda was no stranger to setting high expectations for herself when she first arrived at Cassadaga Job Corps Center in March 2020. Before she even set foot on campus, she had taken bold steps to improve her life by getting sober at 23. She wouldn’t get to begin her program in earnest until September […]
Joselin Sanchez Guarneros
Nurses like Joselin Sanchez Guarneros help save lives every day. But before she got to where she is today, she was the one who needed help. “I was going down a bad path that involved alcohol and just not caring about my well-being,” Joselin said. “Job Corps saved me from me.” She first heard about […]
Jamaya Troupe
Jamaya Troupe says that one of her proudest moments as a Job Corps student was the day her instructor her asked her to cook lunch for a group of 100 children. The kids attended a school close to New Haven Job Corps Center in Connecticut, where Jamaya was studying Culinary Arts. “That was my first […]
Jesus Buelna
“My life has made a full 360 after Job Corps. Job Corps worked for me.” Jesus Buelna moved out of his childhood home in Long Beach to live with his aunt in Hawthorne, Calif. He was new to the area and was struggling to maintain good grades in school. Jesus wasn’t certain school was the […]
Jayra Polanco
Whether she’s drawing blood from patients or helping with the emergency department at the hospital, Jayra Polanco is consistently using the skills she learned at Northlands Job Corps to make a difference in people’s lives. Jayra was born in Brooklyn and attended Fair Haven Union High School in Vermont. After graduating from high school, she […]
Elijah Taybron
Before Job Corps, Elijah Taybron was working for FedEx in a warehouse. He was seeking a new opportunity and was interested in welding. Several members of his family were already welding at a local shipyard and encouraged Elijah to go to school and earn his welding certification. Elijah’s mother told him about Job Corps, and […]
Sydney Gingery
Sydney Gingery was known as the “silent kid” for a decade. She went to school and grew up with the same people who were in her second-grade elementary class, and only a select few knew what her voice sounded like. Her first few days at Cascades Job Corps changed all that. Sydney blossomed while enrolled […]
Ralph Jean Baptiste
When Ralph Jean Baptiste arrived in the United States in 2014, he soon learned that due to his lack of English he wouldn’t be able to enroll in the Connecticut school system and finish his high school diploma. He decided to independently enroll in English classes so that he could go back to high school; […]
Lora Williams
When Lora Williams saw a commercial for Job Corps in 2000, she felt called to dial the number on the screen. “It was a pretty abnormal thing for me to do,” Lora said. “I didn’t think anything would come of it, I just thought I might as well try.” Lora was 16 years old at […]
David Dressendorfer
When David Dressendorfer arrived at the Springdale Job Corps Center in Oregon, he hadn’t completed high school and was without a permanent residence. He was lost, but his mother’s fiancé told him about a program he had done as a young man also looking for direction—Job Corps. He left his hometown of Pocatello, Idaho, and […]