Success Stories

SIEOC Success Story

In April a tearful and scared woman came stating she needed some assistance because her life was a mess. The woman stated she did not know why she came to the SIEOC office because she could not even begin to list all of the complications in her life, but she was hoping someone could help her get her life on track.

As I explained the Family Development Program to her she seemed to calm down, and she eventually agreed to participate in SIEOC’s Family Development Program. The client informed me that day that there would not be any participation from her husband because he would not want to be involved. However, she stated she wanted to be involved for herself and for her kids. We scheduled our first appointment for a week later.

A week later the client returned for her appointment. Our first meeting was very intense. The client gave me a lot of information into her background. I learned that she grew up in a home with no father present and a mother that was physically abusive and heavily involved with substance abuse. Due to the actions of her mother I learned that the client raised her much younger brother and sister. Eventually she was placed in the YES home and in foster care. She dropped out of school at an early age due to getting pregnant. The client went on to say that as an adult she and her husband both struggled with substance abuse. The substance abuse caused a lot of stress in their life: no job, multiple evictions, financial issues and severe arguments between her and her husband. The client even reported child protective services got involved with her, her husband and their four children.

The client informed me that when she almost lost her children was when she got motivated to quit all drugs. She stated that she went through withdrawal and
her kids witnessed her being sick. She stated she was embarrassed and she vowed to herself that she would never put her kids through that again. The client stated to me that since drugs are not an issue for her anymore that she now just wants to focus on being a good mom and role model.

The next time I met with this client we came up with a list of goals that she wanted to work on accomplishing. She stated that her main goal was to obtain her GED so she could find employment. She stated that her family struggled every month trying to get bills paid because her husband was the only one in the family who had a job. She hoped that obtaining her GED would give her more job opportunities. She also stated that she had wanted to take the GED test for nearly ten years and that she did not want to put it off anymore, she really wanted to show her husband and kids she could do it.

The client began working on her goal of obtaining her GED right away. We broke the goal down into little steps. The client was so scared that she would not pass the math portion of the GED test so I referred her to a local library that offered her free tutoring to prepare for the GED test, which she attended several times. Next, she scheduled her appointment to take the GED test. However, her husband would not give her money to pay for the test. Luckily SIEOC had funding available to help the client pay $60.00 to pay for the test. In return for paying for her test we asked the client to attend a workshop at WorkOne that would help her learn how to create her resume, learn interview techniques, and job search tips. The client was so grateful that SIEOC paid for her test she happily completed the workshop at WorkOne.

On June 2, 2010 the client took her GED test. Several weeks later the client was mailed her results. The client called me and seemed really excited. She informed me right away that she passed the Math portion, Reading portion, Social Studies and Science portion, but failed the Writing portion by a couple points. The client was a little discouraged but she was really excited to have passed the Math portion because that was the part she was most scared about. The client stated she would retake the Writing portion again. You could tell in her voice that she was really proud of herself.