Jasmine Nails and Kiara Velez-Lopez may be very different;   however, one thing that is the same is their appreciation for Homestead Job Corps Center (HJCC) and its staff.  Current HJCC student Kiara Velez-Lopez receives guidance from HJCC Admissions Counselor Alba Contreras.  Only four months into the Job Corps Program, Velez-Lopez already acknowledges help from Contreras in the form of a “thank you letter.”  Velez-Lopez writes to Contreras “I want to thank you for the opportunity at Job Corps to start over in getting a second chance at my education.  It’s also because of you that my future is going to be better than ever.  I now have a chance to do something with my life.  I now have the chance to graduate with a high school diploma and a trade certification.  I can go off to a college or university thanks to your support and help.  You have made me realize, in the short time that I’ve been here at Homestead Job Corps Center, what I have going for me, not to give up, that I should step up to the plate and go after what I want in life.  Thank you for sticking by my side and never giving up on me.  I am very grateful to you.”

Jasmine Nails, a 2010 graduate, returned to visit her alma mater Homestead Job Corps Center this week during her Spring Break vacation.  Nails is a sophomore at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU).  As a former President of Homestead Job Corps Center’s Student Government Association, it was her Student Government Advisor, Tisha Holmes that Nails wanted to acknowledge.  “Ms. Holmes really guided me to accomplish my goals.  She also helped me with decision making skills which have proved to help me in my college career.  I decided to change my major to Mathematical Sciences with a concentration in Chemistry.  I’d like to go on to graduate school and study engineering.”  She hopes to keep her GPA up in order to qualify for the graduate school scholarships available.  In the meantime, Nails was chosen by Associate Professor, Dr. Andrew Jones, to participate in the work-study program in the mathematics department at FAMU.  This assists Nails with paying for her living expenses.  Nails also takes time to volunteer as an “educator advocate”, mentoring and tutoring second graders at FAMU’s Developmental Research K-12 School.  “I had many role models and mentors at Homestead Job Corps Center help me to succeed.  Now it’s my turn to give back.”

Job Corps is a federally funded program through the U.S. Department of Labor.  ResCare operates many Job Corps centers throughout the nation, including the one in Homestead.  If you would like to see firsthand the difference that Job Corps makes in the lives of young people, please contact Lesly Diaz, Business & Community Liaison for Homestead Job Corps Center who serves as liaison with local and national employers and community service organizations.  305-257-4807 or Diaz.Lesly@jobcorps.org