From Despair and Uncertainty to Hope and Opportunity

When Felicia Cates first sought help through JVS SoCal’s career readiness and job placement centers in the Los Angeles area, she was struggling to provide for her son and living on social security disability. A single mother raised in the foster care system, Felicia felt like she had run out of options for a brighter future.

“I was feeling like my life was pretty much over,” Felicia says. 

Each year, tens of thousands of people like Felicia, from all walks of life, veterans, youth, students, individuals with disabilities, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, single moms, and those on public assistance, pass through the doors of JVS SoCal looking for help getting a job and ultimately a career.

That day she walked into JVS “literally changed my life,” Felicia says. 

Since 1931, JVS has provided people from underserved communities with free resources and training programs to learn the skills to land a job with a foothold into a good-paying career.

“We are leveling the playing field for tens of thousands of Angelenos, reducing any barrier that stands in the way of our clients and a job,” says JVS SoCal’s Chief Executive Officer Alan Levey.

In Levey’s experience, most people who are unemployed want to work and provide for their families. They just don’t have the network or resources for training or interview attire, nor can they afford to hire a career coach. 

JVSWorks, the nonprofit’s suite of career training programs, offers no-cost, eight-week courses to launch clients into professional careers in the growing banking, healthcare, and apartment maintenance industries.

“We see every day in our work how careers and good-paying jobs change lives,” says Neal Mendelsohn, Chief Strategy Officer at JVS. “There’s an incredible transformation when someone starts a career, and it impacts not only their lives but their families and the communities where they live.”

Felicia enrolled in HealthWorks, a Certified Nursing Assistant program, where she received hands-on training at a skilled nursing facility. After graduation, and with the help of JVS SoCal, she was hired at a skilled nursing facility, and within a few years landed her dream job at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where her supervisor praised her positive personality and work ethic, saying Felicia always goes the extra mile for her patients. What is really exciting is that Felicia recently purchased her very first home.

Now, with a well-paying job, Felicia feels good about herself and can offer her son more opportunities. 

“It’s amazing to have some hope for tomorrow,” Felicia says.