When Cristian Aquino arrived at the Iroquois Job Corps Center in November 2019, he didn’t know what the next year had in store for the world. All the setbacks of the COVID-19 pandemic—including having to finish his career training from home—wouldn’t stop him from completing the program, though. Cristian enrolled in the Carpentry training area […]
Region 1: Boston
Keion Chance
Originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., Keion Chance graduated from high school in 2017 and was working at John F. Kennedy International Airport. One of his friends referred him to Job Corps, and Keion was enticed by doing a trade and liked the idea that the training program was free. In October 2019, he decided to join […]
Kemauli Brown
“Job Corps helped me find my purpose after immigrating to America,” said Hartford Job Corps graduate Kemauli Brown. “The feeling of community at Job Corps helped me learn about American culture so much quicker, which made life a lot easier for me.” Kemauli immigrated to America from his native country, Jamaica, in 2014, excited about […]
Tivia Dallas
Tivia Dallas dropped out of college because she could no longer afford it. But once she dropped out, she was faced with another challenge—not being able to secure a job without a degree. Tivia later became her mother’s primary caregiver after she suffered four separate strokes, and while Tivia loved caring for her mother, she […]
Kylar Brown
After getting kicked out of his house in the middle of his junior year of high school, Kylar Brown knew he needed to make a change. He was attending Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School doing carpentry work but wasn’t doing well. Kylar heard about Job Corps through his father, who had attended Grafton Job Corps in […]
James Young
James Young began his journey at Job Corps over 10 years ago. He first arrived at the Edison Job Corps Center in New Jersey to study in the Security and Protective Services training area. Once James graduated from the basic training, he decided to further his education and headed to the Shriver Job Corps Center […]
Ricky Gass
Ricky Gass had no clue that his time at Job Corps would come to an end due to a global pandemic, but he also didn’t know he would end up working at a top solar installation company in New Jersey, Solar Landscape, making $65 an hour. Before coming to Job Corps, Ricky was working at […]
Aleah Hargrove
“We say all the time how we wish we were able to go back. Job Corps was a great experience. It gave me most of the skills that I needed to get to where I am now. It definitely gave me the feeling of independence.” Aleah Hargrove left high school at 15 years old. Since […]
Jozimar Matimano
Jozimar Matimano’s life is one built on a foundation of determination, perseverance, and hard work. A refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Jozimar has faced and overcome more obstacles than most 25-year-olds. In 2016, Jozimar’s family of eight arrived in Manchester, N.H., for the first time after leaving a refugee camp in Uganda, where […]
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 […]