Jennifer's Story
Jennifer is a single mother who was living in motels with her daughter after leaving an unhealthy living situation. Like so many of our participants, she hoped this period of instability would be temporary but could not see a light at the end of the tunnel. Depression set in as she struggled to find stability for herself and keep her daughter in the same school.
Jennifer found out about our program through a connection with a local church which serves food to its congregants. In our first meeting we put together a plan which highlighted her strengths, identified her limitations and barriers to employment, and helped her to see a path through it all. Jennifer began to see herself in a new light as she listed off her skills and assets and wrote her own resume. By the end of our first meeting the depression started to lift. She applied to several jobs and was called in for two interviews in her first week after enrolling in You’re Hired!
"Support Solutions helped bring home to me and my daughter."
Jennifer continued to meet with program staff who took turns spending time with her high-energy, beautiful daughter so that her mother could search for jobs and practice her interview skills.
After three weeks of mock interviews, job search, computer skills training, confidence-building, and a whole lot of encouragement, Jennifer aced an interview and was hired as a customer service rep for an insurance company.
The plan that she made after enrolling included tools for being on time and child care resources for her daughter, which ensured that she had everything she needed to be successful in her first few weeks at her new job.
Jennifer learned to budget her income after receiving her first paycheck in our budgeting workshop. Special care was taken to make sure she was planning for paying off her debts and saving up for security deposit and first month’s rent. Jennifer was connected to a resource which supplemented her income and allowed herself and her daughter into her own apartment just two months after regaining employment.
There’s more!
Several months after securing her job as a customer service rep, Jennifer heard of a sales position with a higher salary, benefits, and health insurance. Working at the customer service position allowed her to demonstrate some work history, punctuality, and reliability to potential employers. She went for the better sales position, and she was hired! A year after getting the sales position, Jennifer is totally financially independent, debt-free, paying for her apartment with her own income, and her lovely daughter no longer has to worry about switching from school to school.
Jennifer and her family are living productive lives full of meaning. She has plans to start her own business and donate a percentage of the proceeds to those who once needed some help – just like her.