In 2015, Myrtice Taylor applied for TANF-TCA benefits through the Baltimore City Department of Social Services (BCDSS), which required her to enroll in a Job Readiness Program (JRP)—a critical component of the KRA Participation, Placement, and Support Services Program—prior to qualifying for occupational-skills training and/or job-placement opportunities.
While attending JRP workshops, Ms. Taylor also participated in KRA’s unsubsidized Work Experience (WEX) Program. Volunteering at several public schools led to a job offer from the Baltimore City School System as a Classroom Aide, helping children with special needs.
Unfortunately, in July 2021, Ms. Taylor became unemployed, re-applied to BCDSS, and was again referred to KRA for training and job-placement services. However, when she returned to KRA, Ms. Taylor had a different career objective in mind, sharing with her KRA Team that she had dreamed of becoming a Nurse since childhood.
On a break, Ms. Taylor chats on her cell phone.
She credits Nakia Washington and Antoinette Yancey, Career Agents, and Shawnda Walker, Lead Job Developer/WEX Site Supervisor, for providing encouragement, guidance, and support to pursuit of her new career goal in earnest. “They gave me the push I needed to get my health-services career started.”
Ms. Walker developed an opportunity for Ms. Taylor to enroll with the it Works Learning Center to obtain dual Certified Nursing Assistant/Geriatric Nursing Assistant (GNA) credentialing, which she received in early September.
Before long, she interviewed with HCR Manor Care, which offered her a fulltime GNA position that began on September 21, 2021.
Ms. Taylor plans to continue her education to eventually become an RN, concluding, “I love seeing my patients every day, and I feel I am right where I am supposed to be. The [KRA/Baltimore City] program will help you succeed, but you have to want it!”
Miss some Latest News articles? Check out the KRA Blog!
Dr. Boone’s 20+ years’ experience in the industry is extensive and her expertise in private-, public-, and non-profit sector workforce-services organizations is unparalleled, particularly in the Baltimore–Washington Metropolitan area.
