Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, February 15, 1991 TAG: 9102150700
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By NEAL THOMPSON EDUCATION WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
She's had the diploma nearly 20 years. She's been unemployed most of that time.
"I didn't have any skills. I didn't have any experience, and there was nothing out there for me to find," she said.
"People said, `Don't call us, we'll call you.' I got [four] children to feed and I don't got time to wait around on promises."
But she finally got the chance she had been waiting for.
Divers was one of 15 Roanoke women who graduated Thursday from a nursing assistant training program. It was the first class to finish the program run by Roanoke County and sponsored by the Fifth District Employment and Training Consortium.
Dressed all in white like the nursing assistants they hope soon to be, the graduates traded hugs and shed a few tears after receiving diplomas.
"All I wanted was a chance, and they gave me a chance," said Divers, 37. "Enough people believed in me and I accomplished it."
The free, 10-week training program is for women who receive public assistance to support their children. The Department of Social Services gave $4,357 to support the program and the county donated space and materials.
The next group is scheduled to begin classes April 8.
Participants now must take a state test March 16 and, if they pass, will be certified as nursing assistants and eligible for jobs in nursing homes, doctors' offices and hospitals and with home health care companies.
"There's lots of jobs out there for them. And it's above the minimum wage. That was one of the key factors," said Garland Kidd, Roanoke County's adult and vocational education director.
"They needed some skills and they got it. And it's in a field where there are some openings," said Bobby Clark, the consortium's job placement specialist. "The jobs are there and we're going to help them find them."
The group learned job-hunting skills in addition to cardiopulmonary resuscitation and patient care. The class met four days a week at the Arnold R. Burton Technology Center and also spent time visiting a medical clinic and a nursing home.
Many graduates said they were confident they learned enough to pass the state exam and already have applied for local jobs.
"I always wanted to get into a nursing program," said Brigett Cammack, 35, clutching her diploma as other graduates mingled with family and friends.
"Most of us don't have any skills. Most of us have children. That's been the major part of our lives, raising children. So, this helps us a lot."
The celebration of completing the program was tempered, though, by a few warnings about expecting too much.
"I know a few of you have had discouraging days and wanted to hang it up. Remember, work life is like that, too. Everything is not rosy," program instructor Fay Poulin told her students.
And Martin Jeffries, a job development director for Total Action Against Poverty, said: "Every job has aspects about it that we aren't going to like. But we can't throw our jobs away or throw our futures away."
Delois Webb, 29, didn't mind the warnings. She just can't wait to find a job to help pay her bills and better care for her two kids.
"I'm ready to start working and it's something I want to do. I like working around people," said Webb, who also has taken classes for her diploma and plans to take the high-school equivalency test soon.
Kidd told the graduates that while the nursing assistant program should help them find jobs, it could serve as a steppingstone to other opportunities in the broad medical field.
"The possibilities are unlimited," he said.
by CNB