As Felix Barragan planned for his future career path, he was first drawn to forestry. However, from his first step into the Carpentry shop at Angell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center in Oregon, Felix knew he was home. Prior to enrolling at Job Corps, Felix worked landscaping, roofing and construction side jobs. With one foot […]
Oregon
Andie Beltran
Andie Beltran knew it was going to be tough. They had no prior experience with carpentry. But did that stop them? No. Andie swore in as a member of Local 1503 in the United Brotherhood of Carpenters (UBC) in Portland, Ore., and is now a first term apprentice general carpenter earning $26 an hour. “Everyone […]
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 […]
Sara Shores
“I was living away from home and had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. My friend and I were living in a KOA [Kampgrounds of America] until it began snowing, and we each got low-wage jobs and an apartment. I was working in a restaurant during the day and hanging clothes […]
Kenneth Trapero
Kenneth Trapero enrolled in Angell Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center on Nov. 29, 2016, to study automotive maintenance; but it was not long after enrolling that he found his true passion as a wildland firefighter. After observing Kenneth’s work on the fire line, an assistant fire management officer suggested that he pursue a career with […]
Tyler James Mockler
For Tyler James Mockler, it took Job Corps and the encouragement from the people at Job Corps to go from a depressed high school drop-out to a dedicated El Dorado Hotshots wildland firefighter trainee. Tyler always had a fascination with firefighting. Before Job Corps, he was a fire cadet; but he wanted to do more. […]
Judge Sergio Gutierrez
Idaho Court of Appeals Chief Judge Sergio Gutierrez is the living embodiment of the power of Job Corps. Sergio received his GED and studied carpentry at the Wolf Creek Job Corps Center in the early 1970s. Sergio was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and immigrated with his family to Stockton, Calif., where his parents struggled to […]