Martha's Success Story | Hood River, OR
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Ever since Martha could remember her parents worked as seasonal farm workers working multiple jobs throughout the year in the Hood River Valley. She too worked as a farmworker for many years. Every summer waking up at 5:00am for cherry season to pick, she worked alongside with her brothers and parents. They worked long hours as there was very limited money and they had a big family to feed. It was tough times because sometimes it would be extremely hot working when cherries were ready and they had to work fast to make sure they filled those cherry bins as fast as they could.
Martha went to Hood River Valley High School, she graduated in 2013. Shortly after graduation, she gave birth to her first child, after having her baby she didn’t know what to do with her life, she felt lost. She always had wanted to be successful, but at that point in her life she didn’t know where to start from and was reluctant to leave her newborn at home. |
She became a stay at home mom for the first year of her baby’s life and then decided she wanted to get in gear and make some changes in her life. She heard about the OHDC program and services in 2014 and she came into the Hood River office in September of that same year.
We could see right away that she had a positive attitude and was eager to learn. After finishing 24hrs of the OHDC Job Readiness Course, she continued to come to the office every single day for over two months to work on her resume and interview skills, improved her typing skills, and learned how to be efficient in her job search.
A local company, Hood River Organic, was looking for a new receptionist. We called them and sold them on the idea of an On-the-Job, OJT, training for Martha. After the OJT contract ended, she became a permanent employee, the owner of the company called us to thank us for finding such an efficient and intelligent employee for them. The On the Job Training led Martha to a full-time position and within a short period of time she was promoted to manage their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.
Martha is now earning $15.00 an hour, gets weekends off and she is very happy with her new job. She says that “it is never too late to start progressing and if you weren’t happy with how you were yesterday try something different today and don’t be stuck and do your best to succeed.”
We could see right away that she had a positive attitude and was eager to learn. After finishing 24hrs of the OHDC Job Readiness Course, she continued to come to the office every single day for over two months to work on her resume and interview skills, improved her typing skills, and learned how to be efficient in her job search.
A local company, Hood River Organic, was looking for a new receptionist. We called them and sold them on the idea of an On-the-Job, OJT, training for Martha. After the OJT contract ended, she became a permanent employee, the owner of the company called us to thank us for finding such an efficient and intelligent employee for them. The On the Job Training led Martha to a full-time position and within a short period of time she was promoted to manage their CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program.
Martha is now earning $15.00 an hour, gets weekends off and she is very happy with her new job. She says that “it is never too late to start progressing and if you weren’t happy with how you were yesterday try something different today and don’t be stuck and do your best to succeed.”