When LaChan Russell first signed up for Job Corps, she had no clue she was pregnant. She was ready to make a change in her life, she just didn’t realize how many changes would be coming her way. Though she admits that having her son at the time she was enrolling wasn’t what she thought was going to happen, she also wouldn’t have it any other way. Now, 18 years after graduating, LaChan is not only a Job Corps employee, but a great testament of the possibilities for single parents everywhere. 
One year after her son was born, LaChan finally made it onto the Job Corps campus to begin the college program. LaChan had heard of Job Corps before seeing their ad in the City Paper of Pittsburgh at the laundromat. Though she was familiar with the program, something overcame her that day at the laundromat and she decided to call them and inquire about enrolling. She had already been thinking that there had to be more out there for her, and LaChan had always been inspired by her two older sisters who graduated from college; she just didn’t know how she was going to get there.
“I admit to being a party girl before and not having the drive to stay at a job long. Instead, I would work until I was tired of a job and move on to another.”
When reflecting on her experience, LaChan has nothing but fond memories of her time at Job Corps. As she was a young single mom, they gave her the financial, education, and mental health support that she needed. Job Corps taught her the value of being on time, being prepared, and being responsible by showing her how to be a successful student and mom. She learned that the ability to prove to an employer that she would always do her part would prove her value as an employee. LaChan realized that they could always hire someone else, and she decided she never wanted to be passed up again.
LaChan also found other ways to grow. Being at Job Corps as a single mom of a young son with autism, she rarely found time for herself. One day, while discussing the difficulties around being a young mom in school, her friend told her that she had recently found a slice of “me time”—the campus bowling league. Though LaChan had never even picked up a bowling ball before, she decided to join the league as a means of being able to do something fun for herself. She quickly caught on watching her classmates and fell in love with the game. She now counts it as one of her fondest memories at Job Corps.
LaChan credits Job Corps for being the springboard to making her believe in herself. Once she finished the program at Job Corps, she continued her education at the University of Pittsburgh, then Point Park University where she graduated magna cum laude. She later went on to earn her master’s degree in professional counseling. LaChan’s life came full circle 15 years after graduating from Job Corps when she saw an ad for a career counselor position at the Pittsburgh Job Corps Center.
Though she already had a job at the time, LaChan decided to apply for the career counselor position. To say she was thrilled when she received the job is an understatement. She loves her job and interacting with trainees daily. She believes that her life’s work “is to reach back and help somebody to rise up.”
While LaChan is full of good advice seeing as she is a professional career counselor, if she could share anything it would be to young single parents: “While you have to be willing to do the work for yourself and for your future, you must also know that the choice you are making now will have as great an impact on your child’s future as your own.”
Graduated from Job Corps in: 2002 Employer: Career Counselor, Job Corps, Pittsburgh JC Hometown: Springfield, MA Phone: 412-365-6923 Email: russell.lachan@jobcorps.org Notes:
Source: Grad of the Quarter Submission