Charles M. recently completed the U.S. Dept. of Labor’s Homestead Job Corps Center program.  At age 24, Charles is mature beyond his years.  “From what I’ve been through, I’ve learned it’s better to be different and your own person than to follow others.”  He speaks from experience.  Charles was born in Miami and was adopted at the age of three months.  He credits his adoptive parents with giving him “blessings, strength and hope.”  Charles’s mother encouraged him to enroll in Job Corps to “better his circumstances.”  While at Homestead Job Corps Center Charles said he made some lifelong friends.  “By giving people a chance and getting to know people for who they are and their unique situation, allows me to better understand the reason why they are the way they are.”

Charles took full advantage of the Job Corps program.  Within nine months he completed the HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) Career Technical Training program.  Learning day by day, he worked his way into a paid internship with All Air of South Dade.  Upon completion of his internship and HVAC and EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) universal certification, All Air of South Dade offered him a full time job.  Rocco Dibenedetto, Operations Manager at All Air of South Dade, stated “Charles Charles is an outstanding young man.  We are lucky to have him.”  While working, Charles plans to continue with his studies at a local college.  He says the flexible hours of his job “cater to his going back to school and studying.”  His career field of choice is the medical field, specifically pediatrics.  Charles’s advice to new students is “it is guaranteed that there will be obstacles, but to succeed you have to overcome those heartaches and pains and keep going.  You have to believe in yourself.  Whatever makes your heart pump, go for it.”  He adds “too many people have regrets for not going for it.”

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