Danielle Jackson is an 18-year-old female, a long time resident of the LA - Watts Community. Danielle attended Jordan High and after graduation attended Maxine Waters vocational training center. Referred by a friend, Danielle came to our Center seeking assistance with Employment and higher education opportunities. Once she completed the eligibility process and orientation she was selected to participate in our CDBG program. After a couple of meetings and assessment periods she was assigned to a case manager to establish short and long term goals. Since enrolling in our program the client has completed Job Readiness Certification, GED prep and joined the Youth Council. Danielle hopes to soon pass the GED test and enroll into LA Trade Tech’s Healthcare program in the Winter; her long-term goal is to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN).

Crystal walks to her own beat, she is certainly one of a kind! She is a smart, very outspoken, spunky young lady who was in need of direction. Crystal had been a great student throughout high school taking mostly all advanced placement classes and had already received acceptance letters to a number of Universities. Senior year of high school Crystal's home life took a drastic change due to some problems. She moved out of her house to live with her sisters at a friend’s house. The problems in her personal life translated into problems at school. Crystal lost direction and let her schoolwork slide, she fell behind in all her classes. The last month of school Crystal was informed by her counselor that she would not be graduating because she has not completed the required courses. Crystal failed two AP classes and received D's and C's in other classes. She would not be matriculating into a University as she had planned.

Crystal gave up on her hopes of attending a University. She wasn't sure what she was going to do after high school. Her counselor heard about our program and thought she would be a perfect fit. Crystal decided to participate and we enrolled her into Maxine Waters Adult school where she worked on making up her required classes. In addition, we set her up with a 6-week job placement at the local non-profit organization. Usually students take up to a year to finish the classes Crystal needed. During this time Crystal's attitude about school and her future changed. She became focused once again and realized her goal could still become a reality. She completed her required classes in a matter of two months. She finished right in time to register for classes at El Camino College and began school in the Fall. She is now attending both El Camino College and LA Harbor College so that she can transfer to UC Davis or Riverside within a year. On top of her school workload Crystal will also be enrolling in the next Job Readiness class so that she can gain some skills to find a part-time job while she is going to school. Crystal has become a self-sufficient young lady who with a little direction has a bright future.

Britani Bell graduated with honors from El Camino Real this year, a long time participant of the CDBG program Britani has participated in almost every youth activity the program offers. Since Britani loves children her career aspirations are to become a Pediatrician, she understands this is a lofty, but attainable goal. She has her sights set on being the first Doctor in her family. This summer Britani was chosen to participate in the Kaiser Internship; her winning smile and attitude secured her one of only ten slots offered by Kaiser Hospital.

Britani works in the Cardiac CATH LAB at Kaiser, her supervisor Lorry Palmarin, has shared with other staff that Britani is a great intern and that she seems to enjoy the many challenges of working in such an exciting and fast paced environment. Lorry is so impressed with her work that she has offered her a long-term position after her internship is complete. During her internship Britani was given the wonderful opportunity to observe “open heart surgery, “ an experience that changed her perspective on modern medicine forever.