Success Stories
Carolina’s Success Story | Hillsboro, OR
Carolina, a 44-year-old single mother of two, spent the last 14 years working at a nursery in Cornelius, OR, where she earned $10 an hour pruning and planting various plants. Her days started as early as 4:00 am, getting her kids ready for the babysitter before heading to work by 5:00 am. During the busy planting season, it was common for her to work 15-18 hours a day, often finishing at midnight. Despite the extra pay, her income barely covered the additional babysitter costs, and she rarely got to see her children.
When Carolina heard about Oregon Human Development Corporation (OHDC) from a friend, she saw an opportunity for change. While on a layoff, she decided to visit OHDC, knowing that learning English could open doors to better employment opportunities beyond the nursery. OHDC enrolled her in local ESL classes, and she diligently studied using Rosetta Stone software. Through one-on-one assessments and targeted discussions, OHDC helped Carolina identify her career goals.
Carolina participated in Job Readiness classes and other valuable training courses like Customer Service, Work Ethics, Conflict Resolution, and Financial Literacy, offered through Wells Fargo. Though it was a lot to take in, she remained positive and dedicated to her learning. OHDC's partnership with Amanecer Chiropractic Clinic provided Carolina with a short-term Work Experience as an office assistant/receptionist. During those 300 hours, she gained office skills, applied her customer service training, and learned to operate office equipment while interacting with customers.
Carolina excelled in her Work Experience, leading to a short-term On-The-Job Training (OJT) opportunity with Amanecer. She transitioned from earning $10 an hour for irregular, long hours in the nursery to a steady job with a starting wage of $12 an hour for 40 hours a week. But Carolina didn’t stop there—she pursued additional training to become a Chiropractic Assistant. Her hard work paid off, and with OHDC's continued support, she earned her Chiropractic Assistant Certification and now makes $14 an hour in a full-time position.
Reflecting on her journey, Carolina encourages others to "set goals and don’t stop working towards them because hard work and dedication pay off." She is grateful for OHDC's training and services, which helped her succeed and continue achieving her goals, including buying a home for her children.
Reynaldo's Success Story I Herimston, OR
With the aid of OHDC we worked together to create my resume that helped me start my professional career as an HVAC technician. They also assisted me in making a portfolio which allowed me to showcase all of my accomplishments to potential employers in a professional fashion. Because of these tools I was able to get my first job with a local heating and air conditioning company located in Hermiston. There are many elements that influenced my path towards graduating from a trade school.
I am employed by a local HVAC company in Hermiston, Oregon and I plan to stay in this company as long as I can. But, in the future I would like to start my own HVAC business. I would also like to pursue a higher degree that will be related to HVAC and business.
My advice for people who are starting the program is to find outside help as well. For example, the employees in OHDC advised and helped me apply for outside scholarships. I also encourage people to stay on track in school and do the best they can.
I am thankful for all the support I received, my family, all my instructors at Perry Tech, and for the employees in OHDC. I was able to achieve my goal with the help of all the people who believed in me and pushed me to succeed in life.
Enrique's Success Story | Hood River, OR
As the years went by, Enrique learned a little bit more Spanish from his friends at work and was able to send money home to support his family in Oaxaca. He worked in various orchards until 2012 when he heard about OHDC. Without hesitating he visited us in November, and became one of our clients. We were glad to have him, and he knew that he would have to work extra hard to learn English as his third language. We enrolled him in our Rosetta Stone course as a compliment to the local ESL classes provided by the community college.
After six months of being in our program and working diligently in learning English and taking our Job Readiness classes, he felt confident enough to start looking and applying for work outside of agriculture. Enrique applied in several places and was fortunate enough to receive quite a few interviews, but had no luck with getting hired.
We talked with Enrique about his progress and we concluded that he needed additional help communicating in English. So, we initially set a schedule for him to come into our computer lab three days a week. He said “NO” he would come in every day after work and even stated coming in on his days off specifically to use Rosetta Stone to work on his English. Enrique did that for a straight year without giving up and hardly missing a day in the lab. With his English much improved we decided that it was time for him to pursue his dream job and we enrolled him in a truck driving course with Elite Truck School in Hillsboro, OR.
Enrique worked very hard and he threw himself into the course and studied hard in this course as he so much wanted to become a licensed commercial truck driver. Two months later after hard work, sacrifice, and lots of studying he obtained his CDL. He immediately applied at various places including Oregon Child Development Coalition, OCDC, as a bus driver. But, he still didn’t get any job offers because of his limited English skills. He knew he needed work on his English skills once more. He was back in our computer lab every day and he would spend hours each day working thru the different levels of Rosetta Stone, and we also signed him up once more for ESL classes provided by Columbia Gorge Community College. After a few more months and hundreds of hours spent practicing his English he once again started applying for truck driving jobs. It was no surprise to us that he got hired in May of 2015 at J. Arlie Bryant, INC as a short haul truck driver.
We learned from him that if you really want something in life you have to fight for it till the end. Never give up on your dreams, and don’t let any barrier including language set you back. Enrique is currently earning $18.50 an hour and feels proud of himself because he has enough to support his family here and his parents in Oaxaca.
His new goal for the future is to own his own trucking company.
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