While her three children were growing up, Asfa Alamelhuda gave them everything.

“I stayed home with them. I would take the kids to school, to the library, to the park,” said Asfa, 51, whose children are now 20, 18 and 14. “I enjoyed it. I feel very, very proud of myself.”

When her youngest started high school, she was driven to re-enter the workforce. Although Asfa, who emigrated with her husband from Sudan in 2002, has a bachelor’s degree, her career options were limited without recent work experience. The Arlington Heights, Illinois, resident took a part-time job in retail.

“I wanted to improve myself and my resume, but I didn’t know what to do. I was very lost,” said Asfa, who noticed Harper College’s Learning and Career Center (LCC) after taking her son to soccer practice. “When I entered the building, my whole life changed.”

She met Omar Sánchez, workforce careers coordinator, who explained a variety of options available at LCC, including an opportunity to enroll in courses to earn the Administrative Assistant Certificate. She could attend classes at no cost if she applied for federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds, provided through Harper’s educational partners at the American Job Center in Wheeling.

Asfa said that Omar’s enthusiasm and support made the difference in her deciding to enroll.

“I first said, ‘That’s too much’ or ‘I’m too old,’” she recalled, sharing concerns about her English proficiency. “He kept motivating me, saying, ‘You can do it! And you can improve your English too!’ He took me from one step to the next.”

Paths to College and Career

Asfa, who has since completed her 17-credit certificate, is just one success story from Harper’s Paths to College and Career program – supported by the Innovative Bridge and Transition Program Grant from the Illinois Community College Board. Launched in January 2022, Harper’s program aims to help displaced, unemployed or underemployed adults seeking to pivot careers and enhance their basic skills and digital literacy.

After a couple of years, Paths has served hundreds of students and has grown to include a greater focus on immigrants looking for training, certificates or degrees that will help further and expand their career opportunities. Twice a week, LCC offers a basic skills tutoring lab so newcomers can discover where they stand when it comes to math, reading or computer literacy.

“Some think they’re far behind, but they find out they knew more than they thought they did,” Omar said before discussing some of the digital skills gaps that can be bridged. “There are so many people with degrees, but they learned how to use Windows 95 and they don’t know about Microsoft 365 and Google Docs or Sheets.”

That’s why the Paths program includes short, grant-funded workshops targeted to refreshing adult students’ skills before they enroll in a certificate or degree program. Provided by Harper Community Education and Continuing Professional Education, these sessions (ranging from two days to eight weeks) offer targeted instruction on subjects from computer software and grammar to professional skills and conducting online job searches.

On the rebound

Joanna Kmiec can rattle off a laundry list of free workshops and courses that led her to begin a certificate program. Born and raised in Poland, where she attended accounting college, Joanna came to the U.S. with her husband more than 20 years ago. While raising their two children, she worked in accounting for a Chicago-based Polish company.

But after 18 years, Joanna found herself out of a job when the owner sold the business. Unemployed and unsure what to do, she contacted area colleges. Omar was the first to call her back. He explained LCC’s support services, connected her with learning opportunities and – just as importantly – helped her believe in herself.

“Omar helped me do it. He was the one who convinced me to take the English exam. He was the one who guided me every step,” she said. “He believed in me from the very beginning. And for that I am grateful.”

After learning more about current technology and how to approach the job market, Joanna, 46, began taking courses to build on her existing accounting skills via Harper’s Accounting Assistant Certificate program. Supported by WIOA funding through an American Job Center in Chicago, she is steadily working to complete the certificate next year. Her progress has slowed to taking one class at a time for a very good reason: Joanna landed a new job.

Because of the job search skills she learned in LCC workshops and the accounting knowledge she acquired through Harper courses, Joanna was hired as an accounting assistant last year.

“When I got the phone call that I was hired, I was the happiest person in the world,” Joanna recalled. “And it was work specific for my certificate: accounting assistant. My dream came true.”

Joanna is now learning both in class and on the job. She said that after feeling like her world had collapsed, Harper’s staff and faculty helped present a new universe of opportunity. Finding greater fulfillment in her career, her positivity has carried over to other aspects of her life.

“My kids mentioned that I’m happier than I was when I come home from work. Everything is new, entirely different,” Joanna said. “It’s never too late to learn. It doesn’t matter if you have children … it is always a good time for you to do something for yourself.”

There’s more to the story! Read the full article in CC Daily.