“Workforce Investment Solutions was an opportunity that has changed my life for the good. It opened doors for a second chance at life. I have faced so many obstacles, trials and tribulations, things that you do not think you will overcome,” Marquevin says.
Danielle, age 22, was unable to find a good paying job through career services alone. She was underemployed — averaging 20-22 hours per week as a cashier earning $17.00 per hour. In the 24 months prior to her training, her part-time employment with Orpheum Theatre also ended more than once due to COVID.
Kallie was a 25-year-old single mother with a young son. She was making less than $15.00 per hour and had been accepted into the License Practical Nurse (LPN) program at Lake Land College and the school recommended that she contact the Shelbyville Job Center.
Danielle first came to the WIOA office in April 2021, after she had been laid off from her job in March. She learned of the WIOA program when she sought assistance with filing an unemployment claim. At that time, Danielle was a single mom who had no idea how she was going to support her children being recently unemployed.
Dennis is one of our “in-school” Youth Program participants. He is a part-time student attending Southwestern Illinois College who is majoring in Political Science. Before joining, Dennis had never heard about our WIOA program before until one day by chance at Lowe’s, our supervisor’s husband was around and happened to bring it up. Dennis’s mouth dropped at all the services and opportunities our program provides our youth and was highly interested from the beginning.
Laci came to Man-Tra-Con for assistance in July 2022. She had been laid-off from her job at the Hyatt Reservation Center in Marion, Illinois, since 2020. Laci wanted to return to school to become a nurse. She was seeking training assistance to enroll in the Associate Degree in Nursing program at John A. Logan College.