Working in this field, it is often months and even years before you see the fruit of your labor (if ever!). Funding and capacity for programming comes and goes, and over the years, we have implemented a handful of programs that we hoped were useful, but weren’t able to see the immediate impact of in the lives of the participants. One such program was our Job Training Program, implemented from 2019-2022. For each of the 15 weeks of the program, mentees participated in 3-hour classes working through the Job Ready Indy curriculum. The course culminated in mock interviews and even taking field trips to visit careers of interest.  While we enjoyed offering this program, we made the difficult decision to streamline our programming in 2023 and refer out to other organizations for this service.

The handful of girls who participated in the Job Training Program learned a great deal, and of course, as facilitators and people who love and are invested in them, we hoped that it made a difference in their lives – but only time would tell.

This past month, our Program Coordinator, Amanda, made an interesting realization. Many of the mentees who participated in our job training program now hold a consistent, reliable job!

We had the opportunity to catch up with one of these mentees, K, on our podcast recently where she shared about how much she loves her job at a daycare, and how it’s prompted her to look into going back to school to study child psychology.

Another graduate of our job training program, L, holds a steady job in the telecommunications field. She takes her job seriously. Recently, when a staff member asked to meet up with her, she said yes, but that the staff member could only visit her on her break!

P, a graduate of our most recent job training class, took a job about a year ago at an after school program. Since then, she’s been promoted twice and has increased to full time. She’s saving money for a car and apartment.

What a gift to see some of the seeds that were sewn over those years have now grown. Those of you who funded this program, volunteered your time, provided meals for the participants, facilitated mock interviews, or helped us connect with career shadowing opportunities, THANK YOU. Your investment in the lives of these amazing young ladies MATTERS, and if we can hang in there for the long game, we’ll see it really is making a difference!