Two years ago, Taishia Jenerette was holding down two jobs, caring for her 6-year-old daughter and struggling as a single mother with too little time and too many bills. Then a friend told her about an unusual Fairfax County program that provides low-income single parents with career counseling and professional certificate courses -- free.
"I would have never been able to go to school if not for the Education for Independence program," said Jenerette, 32, who quit her part-time job at Macy's to make time for night classes. "I had looked into it so many times, but I didn't have the money."
In a ceremony last week at the Fairfax County Government Center, Jenerette graduated with a medical assistant certificate that will help her qualify for a promotion, and a raise, at the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services, where she prepares disability cases for review. But more important than the certificate, Jenerette said, the program has given her confidence.
"I was so scared to go back to school because I didn't want to fail," said Jenerette, of Centreville. "I said if I can get through this two years, I can do anything."
That attitude is what Education for Independence is meant to engender, said Lorraine Obuchon, one of two career counselors who work with the program's approximately 120 participants.
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