Stacy
Stacy, in her own words, “I started working at Airtex Products when I was eighteen years old. I think it is safe to say I grew up there. I got married and had my daughter while I worked there. I even divorced and faced a serious health scare all while working there. The people I worked with became more than friends, they were my family. This is one of the reasons why after 29 years I can honestly say I was devastated to learn the factory was closing. Unsurprisingly, I was scared- I was forty-eight and was having to start from scratch. Starting there straight out of high school meant I was unprepared for most jobs that could support a single forty-eight-year-old woman and because of my age and and health issues starting over in a factory was not something I felt I could do.”
“Luckily, unlike many, I had options. With the help of Paula Black and WADI, I was able to get into a program to go back to school at no cost to me. She was beside me, and many others, to help guide us through—what was to me—a complicated process. She was there anytime I had questions and often offered encouragement. I will always be grateful for her help and for that program,” Stacy adds.
“Starting school at my age was absolutely terrifying. I felt out of place, and unequipped to be a freshman in college. But with a lot of hard work I gained confidence in myself, made friends and best of all managed to make straight A’s. As time went on, people were coming to me for help in classes and with assignments. After two years, in 2019, I graduated with a associate in applied science and am now working at SSM hospital as a certified medical assistant. I actually started working two days after graduation. For the first time since I learned I was losing my job, I am hopeful about my future,” Stacy says.