17 Oct Hope, patience and time lead to success for Youth Works student
“Having no job, not being in school and living in a single-parent home led me to feel hopeless,” says 20-year-old LaQuisha Davis.
The 2012 Harding University High School-graduate attended one semester at South Carolina State University, but was forced to leave because she couldn’t afford the out-of-state tuition.
Bored and flipping through the JobFinder USA publication one day, she saw an ad for ResCare Workforce Services and called for information. (ResCare provides services for out-of-school youth through Charlotte Works’ Youth Works program. Youth Works offers education, training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged youth via the Workforce Investment Act [WIA]). She enrolled in the program; she’d found her hope.
Following a two-week work-readiness course, during which Davis learned how to dress for and participate in interviews, prepare resumes and fill out job applications, she was accepted into a work-experience program as an administrative assistant right in the ResCare office.
“This work experience helped me accomplish a lot of things that I would have not done if I had not come to ResCare. I’m now an open and sociable person,” says Davis. “I learned that in order to achieve anything, you must first at least try. The program helped me develop many skills not only for the workforce, but also personal skills that I can use in my everyday life.”
Inspired by the support she received, Davis was determined to return to college. Youth Works funds paid for application and orientation fees, and ResCare staff assisted with financial aid research.
Davis is now a junior at North Carolina Central University, majoring in political science, minoring in business administration and planning to attend law school and eventually open her own firm. She averages a course load of 18 hours per semester, works full-time as a McDonald’s cashier to supplement the three small scholarships she received and holds a 3.8 GPA.
“I learned to always challenge myself,” says Davis. “This is a program that inspires young adults that they can do anything they put their minds to with patience and time.”