Ann’s Story: A Community Health Worker Certificate Launches a New Career for a Dislocated Worker

June 6, 2021

To the good people at Hired,

My name is Ann…and my life in 2020-21 has been greatly changed in a very positive way due to Hired and the Dislocated Worker Program. Here is a little bit about my story…

 I was laid off from my home care physical therapy job November 2019 due to a major downsizing … I did not do any job searching until January due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays, knowing no serious hiring would likely happen during that time. Plus, I, just needed a break. I did take a wonderful day-long course taught by Paul Sears from Career Force, titled Career Exploration, in December 2019. Something Paul said really resonated with me. He said, “Don’t be quick to jump back into a job you were not satisfied with. Take some time to explore your transferable skills and do some career exploration.” That is precisely what I did, taking some interest profiles and searching on O*Net where those transferable skills might lead to other occupations.

Early in 2021, I applied for the Dislocated Worker Program and was accepted into the program. Joy Shimmin-Olson has been my counselor from Hired and has been a wonderful advocate for me throughout the program. Joy enrolled me in an excellent Personal Branding Course, LinkedIn Course, and the AARP Back to Work 50+ Program. All of these courses had interactive Zoom meetings which taught me so much! I especially loved the Personal Branding Course. One of the projects in that course was to send some questions about “What I am known for?” and “What are my skills?” to co-workers and friends. I got about 30 responses back and used this information to aid me in writing my resume, building my LinkedIn account, and used the information during a job interview!

 I shared with Joy my interest in pursuing a Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate through the Dislocated Worker Program. I did my research to find that the only program in MN to offer this type of Health and Wellness Coaching Certificate was through Mayo Clinic. During the early months of COVID and into the summer, I tried diligently to petition Mayo Clinic to add their program to the ETL within Hennepin County. The pandemic and resultant furloughs of many Mayo employees made this very difficult and by the end of the summer, I had given up on pursuing this certificate. But I heard of another career and certificate program for a Community Health Worker (CHW) which really interested me and for which many of my skills transferred. Joy was very supportive of this shift in focus. Within one week, I had completed my paperwork requirements and Joy had completed her paperwork requirements and I was enrolled at Northwest Technical College in Bemidji, MN. I returned to school after a 33-year lapse. I loved this totally on-line program and loved being back at school! I have now since graduated from the 17-credit certificate program and have a Community Health Worker Certificate. Part of my coursework Spring of 2021 was a 2-credit CHW internship. In March 2021, I procured an internship at M Health Fairview. 3 weeks into my internship, I applied for a CHW position within M Health Fairview. This turned into a job just 2 weeks later!! I am now 8 weeks into a Community Health Worker role at two M Health Fairview Clinics in their care coordination program. I just love it! The job is remote for now, but with plans to return 2 days/week come September.

2020 was such a difficult year with the COVID pandemic, social unrest in my South Minneapolis neighborhood, and unemployment for nearly 1 ½ years! It was a year of looking at my career and realizing my goals and passions had changed, requiring a shift of focus to a new career. The coursework and opportunities Hired provided for me were hugely helpful in allowing me to process my goals and transferable skills and align them to a new career as a Community Health Worker. And thanks to Joy Shimmin-Olson for all her advice and encouragement pursuing my educational goals. I would not be at this place in my new Community Health Worker role without Hired and the Dislocated Worker Program! Thank you Hired, the Dislocated Worker Program and the State of MN for making this career shift possible! I am very, very grateful!!

Sincerely,

Ann