YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Cherelle Conner thought her dream of a pharmacy career died when she pleaded guilty to a nonviolent felony.
But through a program at Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates, she’s working to get certified as a pharmacy technician.
“I do have to work harder,” said Conner, 35 of Youngstown. “I do have to go through different avenues to get there, but God put me in the room with people that want to help you and I’m very appreciative of that.”
JOG, which has an office in Warren, helps people 18 to 24 who are in danger of dropping out of school or who already have to complete school and transition to either employment or post-secondary education. It helps them address barriers including transportation and child care.
The agency, which also serves Mahoning, Columbiana and several other counties in the state, earned a U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Opportunity for Rural Communities grant.
That grant is what enabled Conner to get help from JOG.
It aims to align workforce development efforts with economic development initiatives. Appalachia is one of the target regions.
“We’re helping individuals in the community of all ages with work readiness skills and getting them connected with opportunities for careers – not just jobs – but for careers,” says Terri Peterman, JOG director of operations.
The help is available for people who are at least 18. They may be veterans, people returning from incarceration, people who have been displaced and those who have other employment barriers.
A focus of the grant is people in rural communities who have been displaced such as from working in coal mines.
In the Mahoning Valley, JOG also centers on employment in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors.The agency partners with employers, schools and organizations to determine the area’s workforce needs.
JOG helps people with their resumes, interviewing skills, financial literacy and other work readiness skills.
Agency workers helped Alizejih May, 24, of Warren, sign up for online modules toward a pharmacy technician certification. She’s early in the process but enjoys the classes.
“I like everything about it,” she said. “I like how we’re learning … how to do the prescription, how to learn the prescription – what’s generic and what’s actual brand,” she said.
May has a three-month-old daughter and was referred to JOG as a public assistance recipient. She also beefed up her resume with JOG staffers’ help. She’s always been interested in the health care industry but after taking nursing classes at Youngstown State University, determined that wasn’t the right career for her. She’s worked in several jobs including as a cashier and in a dog kennel but believes pharmacy is the career for her.
“I like helping people,” she said.
Ultimately, she hopes to return to college and pursue a degree in pharmacy.
Peterman said JOG works with companies and other organizations that help program participants secure training.
“We try to partner with organizations that assist with certification,” she said.
May is in a program where her online pharmacy technician classes are available through CVS. She hopes to be hired at one of the stores when she completes her certification.
“However, the training that we have set up with CVS for pharmaceutical technicians, [once] they get that certification, they can go to Walgreens or a grocery store that has a pharmacy inside it – so it’s still beneficial,” Peterman said.
For Conner, JOG staff helped her learn that she could still follow her goal of becoming a pharmacy technician. She also learned about a program that would help her save for her own house. And they were kind and didn’t judge her, she says.
“So anything they ask me to do, or whatever they ask me to get, or whatever meeting they ask me to be in…,” Conner will do it, she says.
The single mother of two sons, one of whom is autistic, cares for people with disabilities. Working with JOG helped her develop a five year plan for her life and career she believes she can stick with. She wants to begin pharmacy classes the first year and earn her certification to work anywhere in the United States. She wants to secure a job at a retail pharmacy and hopes to work in a hospital or other facility. She also wants to save for a home and ensure her sons stay on the right path.
If she hadn’t connected with JOG, she believes she’d be working in fast food.
“They make you feel like hope is there,” Conner says. “If you’re willing to work, they will work.”
Pictured at top: Terri Peterman, Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates director of operations, in downtown Youngstown.
