Tayler Goins grew up in Colonial Heights, Va., as the eldest of four siblings. After graduating from high school, she decided to work as a cashier at Food Lion and CVS instead of pursuing higher education. “I was being irresponsible, and the time came that I had to make a choice to better my life—that […]
Health Care
Mercedes Schlitter
“Job Corps brought me out of my shell and helped me change my life for the better … I got so much out of the program.” Pennsylvania native Mercedes Schlitter knows a thing or two about overcoming challenges. Growing up in foster care, Mercedes spent most of her life moving from place to place and […]
Maricela Perez
When Maricela Perez graduated from high school in 2014, she planned on continuing her education and studying dentistry at a university in Pennsylvania. However, she wasn’t sure she was ready for college, so instead her parents brought up the idea of Job Corps. Maricela entered Job Corps determined to become a dental assistant. Two years […]
Shameka Batchelor
Shameka Batchelor is on the front lines fighting COVID-19 in O’Fallon, Ill., where she has been since April 2020. She is making an impact every day in her patients’ lives, supporting and caring for them, while she’s hundreds of miles away from her family. Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Shameka heard about Job Corps through […]
James Jackson
Growing up in West Virginia, James Jackson never really put much thought into what he would be doing in the future. He never felt that he had many options for career paths, which resulted in his working multiple low-paying jobs with no real possibility for growth for most of his younger years. Then, at his […]
Bosilka Nash
Three months sober from drugs, recently failing out of college, and without a job or direction for her future, Bosilka Nash found herself living at her grandparents’ house, uncertain of how to make her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse into a reality. “Although I was sober, my life was still going nowhere. I had […]
Tre Benjamin
When first arrived at the Gulfport Job Corps Center, he was determined to better himself. He immediately began pursuing his goals to find a purpose and jumpstart his career. Tre was born in Naples, Italy, and grew up in a military family that was always traveling from one place to the next. As he got […]
Mekayla Gresham
Down on her luck and lacking clarity for her future, Mekayla Gresham was homeless and encountering countless dead ends. That was until she saw an advertisement for Job Corps on television. Job Corps offered Mekayla a safe place to live, free meals and career training, and ultimately, a community. Mekayla enrolled at Brunswick Job Corps […]
Rebecca Badasu
Rebecca Badasu moved from Ghana to the United States with her family as a young adult. She got a job making $7.25 per hour, which was barely enough to pay her bills, and she needed to find a way to become financially independent. Taking her father’s advice, Rebecca left home to pursue her education at […]
Frederica Okine
When Frederica Okine moved from Ghana to the United States, she brought with her a passion for helping others and a desire to go into the medical field. Her grandmother told her about Job Corps, and after researching it online, she knew it was the place she needed to be. “I researched Job Corps and […]