Job program paves path to a brighter future – Pima Recovers | Pima County Government
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Job program paves path to a brighter future

Hundreds of jobseekers have doubled their wages in the last year, thanks to a partnership with Pima County, a local nonprofit, and American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding.

JobPath is the County’s nonprofit partner focusing on workforce development and individualized training support. The program helps adults finish certificate and job training programs and move successfully into in-demand and higher-wage careers.

The County has invested $2.2 million in JobPath Inc. since 2020, including an additional $1 million last year in ARPA funding, with particular focus on primary industry jobs that struggled during the pandemic. The County’s Economic Development Office manages the contract with JobPath.

Is the funding paying off? The proof is in the paycheck.

In the last year, JobPath served 670 students who were making an average of $14.03 an hour prior to training. After training, that hourly wage more than doubled to $29.96. And JobPath accomplished that with a 95% retention rate of its students.

In July, the Board of Supervisors voted to extend the contract with JobPath through the end of 2024, providing an additional $2 million in ARPA funds.

“The pandemic’s impact on the community and the economy is immense,” said Heath Vescovi-Chiordi, director of the Pima County Economic Development Office. “Through the Board of Supervisors’ direction, the County is helping to preserve many people’s livelihoods by increasing opportunity for upward economic mobility while at the same time bolstering the workforce needed by our private-sector employers.”

What makes JobPath different than other job-training programs is the extra attention and help it gives to nontraditional students or those juggling multiple challenges outside the classroom.

“I believe we have better success … because we’re able to hold the students’ hands,” said Christine Hill, JobPath’s director of development. “Each student is assigned a success coach who is able to provide one-on-one support. It’s not just the financial assistance. It’s about building a relationship with the students and making sure they have what they need.”

Shekeycha Ward, 27, and pictured above with her family, benefited from the extra help. When she got pregnant while enrolled in the program, JobPath provided her with diapers for her son; bus fare and gas cards; and even food assistance when necessary. The County’s Community & Workforce Development Department provides many of those “wrap-around services.”

In May, Ward graduated from Pima Community College’s nursing program and will become a registered nurse after she passes her state licensing exam.

“As a single-mom household, they helped me so much,” Ward said. “JobPath just makes everything a little less stressful.”

Another recent graduate, Celeste Olivares, 25, got tuition, gas cards and rental and utility assistance.

Celeste Olivares was able to get her education in nursing through the Pima Recovers funds and now works at Select Specialty Hospital.

“During COVID, I lost my department store job because everything shut down and then I lost my apartment,” Olivares said. “JobPath helped me get scrubs, school supplies and feminine products. And it was very clear that if I ever needed help with other things, they were always there to add funds to my account, on top of the tuition payments.”

Olivares also overcame another challenge while in the program.

“I took a little bit of extra time to finish the program because I was having some issues with my mental health,” Olivares said. “My success coach, Ginette Roth, said, ‘That’s fine if you have to redo a semester. We’ve still got you.’

“I tell everyone about JobPath. They go above and beyond. They help you financially, but they are there for you emotionally, too. They really care.”

Ward and Olivares are both on solid career paths. Ward will be earning about $31 an hour once she passes her nursing exam and starts her full-time job. Olivares has already accepted a job — pending passage of her licensing exam — that will pay her $38 an hour as a registered nurse on the night shift. That job also came with a $20,000 signing bonus.

The Pima County Interfaith Council founded JobPath in 1998 to provide services to low-income workers who often don’t see a path toward increased earnings for themselves and their families. In many instances, entry-level and low-wage workers are juggling two jobs just to make ends meet; some have small children at home with no safety net for affordable childcare; and others barely have enough money to afford groceries, let alone support an educational pathway that could help lift them out of poverty.

“We work with determined and resilient Pima County residents who go to incredible lengths to complete their educational goals,” said Ana Greif, CEO of JobPath. “We are proud of our partnership with Pima County, which allows us to remove the barriers that limit our participants’ ability to access better jobs so they can achieve a better life while we strengthen our regional workforce and improve our Pima County economy.”

Many JobPath students move into the high-demand jobs in the fields of aviation, engineering, construction trades, health care and information technologies. This greatly assists employers throughout Pima County by strengthening their workforce through the talent that is developed and retained as a result of JobPath’s programming.

“Taxpayers should know that JobPath is really making a difference in people’s lives,” Olivares said, “and I’m just one example of that.”


For more information about JobPath, including eligibility requirements, visit JobPath.net.

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