Alice is and always has been resilient.
She’s worked hard to overcome personal and systemic barriers during her lifetime. Every day she pushed forward with optimism and with an eye on the opportunities and possibilities she could envision before her. “It wasn’t until I met the incredible people at Interfaith Outreach and Wayzata Public Schools Adult Education that I had a chance to change my narrative.”
As a single mom, Alice balanced raising her daughter while striving to achieve her goals. Those goals included completing her GED and job training to secure a living wage job, and striving to build a stable life for her and her daughter. She chose to pursue a career as a dental assistant because it was a two-year program and it paid a living wage. While going to school, she was part of the Interfaith Outreach Project Success program which helped her apartment be affordable to her.
Despite challenges during COVID-19 Alice never missed a beat. She stayed on top of her daughter’s ever-changing schooling needs, maintained a 4.0 grade point average in dental school, managed a tight budget, and saved money for when she wouldn’t be able to work as much (like during finals week).
And, all of Alice’s hard work paid off. She had multiple job offers allowing her to choose the one that best fit her needs. And recently, the staff at Interfaith Outreach met (safely) in the parking lot with Alice to celebrate her career as a dental assistant. Her social, bubbly, outgoing personality came alive as the staff cheered her on. She worked hard, really hard, at setting and achieving her goals. Alice built a network of encouragement, resources and people who believed in her – around her. Isn’t that what we ALL need to succeed?
Alice, congratulations on landing your career job. The Interfaith team salutes you and your accomplishments.