Upon meeting Katherine, you can tell she has a kind soul.  With eight children under the age of 14, Katherine was a stay-at-home mom for many years. She also has been homeschooling her children since the COVID-19 pandemic. However, when Katherine came to GST Michigan Works! her home life needed a change. 

One day, after a long day of working on their small hobby farm, the whole family loaded up into their passenger van and decided to treat themselves to ice cream. Little did Katherine know that loading up her family that day would change her life. Katherine and her family were involved in a rollover vehicle accident. It was then that their family breadwinner, Katherine’s husband, was seriously injured with a hip dislocation that required surgery. Thankfully, all the children were ok, but Katherine also had an injury to her eye that would require surgery and had longer-term effects. 

When she was able to come home from the hospital, she started figuring out what her next move would be. She visited the GST MIchigan Works! office in Sandusky on July 13th and enrolled in the WIOA program to pursue a career as a Certified Nurse Aide with training at the Sanilac Career Center. Katherine also found a job at the Sanilac Medical Care Facility as a Dietary Aide.  In a month, Katherine went from a stay-at-home mom and teacher to a full-time working student. Katherine fought hard to take care of her children, work all the hours she could, and attend every class while assisting her husband in his recovery.

Katherine utilized GST Michigan Works! services to help with tuition and support while she attended class. Luckily, she was able to alleviate the financial burden of her schooling and remove that from her already overflowing list of demands.

Katherine’s determination paid off. She has now switched positions from Dietary Aide to Certified Nurse Aide at the Sanilac Medical Care Facility and received over a $6.00 per hour raise. Katherine’s pure resilience in taking on and overcoming barriers in her life should be recognized. She works hard in her job but works even harder to care for, love, and provide for her family.