Making an Impact – Employment Services Client Earns Paid IT Internship
In the Making an Impact series, clients and services are featured to expand awareness of the wide array of help available at JFS and to ensure donors understand the lives they touch and the difference they make throughout the community. Client names have been changed to protect their confidentiality.
This month’s story comes from our Employment Services program. “Bonnie”, a 34-year old divorced woman, was referred to JFS by a domestic abuse shelter we have partnered with for a number of years. She fled an abusive situation and ended up at this shelter to recover.
Bonnie was able to find a job in the fast food industry to meet the daily needs of her daughter and herself. Being technically inclined, her interest was to pursue a job in computer programming, a highly competitive field requiring certification and experience. She had saved enough money to either buy a computer or enroll in a training program that offered internship opportunities after the four-week coursework was completed.
JFS helped Bonnie prepare for the entrance interview and testing and granted her a scholarship to pay for the course fees. She followed through and purchased the computer recommended by the trainer. We also helped with transportation to and from the training.
She has moved into her internship and is about half-way through this paid opportunity with a good chance of being hired as a programmer at this company after the internship is complete. She finds the work very challenging, but is excited about her next steps.