Student Success Story: Rainbow

04/3/2024

At Jobs for Ohio’s Graduates, it’s all about helping our participants take crucial first steps into their educational and/or career path. When Rainbow joined JOG, she didn’t know what she was expecting. She joined to learn more about getting into a career with animals but didn’t know how to take those next steps to achieve her goal. Here is how Rainbow has been able to overcome her roadblocks to success.

Rainbow came to JOG looking for career guidance to see her opportunities in working with animals in her area. She was overjoyed when the opportunity to work at a local animal shelter came up through JOG’s work readiness program. The thought of working with animals as a career was unfathomable to her. With the help of her Career Specialist, she was able to get the position and start her first job! She initially started this position as a part of the JOG summer work program but after a few months of hard work, she was offered a full-time position! Rainbow enjoyed this job and worked there for several months before she ran into some challenges.

Soon after starting her job at the animal shelter, Rainbow found out she was pregnant. This scared her as she was supposed to go into her senior year of high school, and she just started her new job. Her schoolwork began to struggle, and her home life became toxic. Looking to find an escape, she enrolled in the Wayne County Community Career Center. She was able to enroll into a new career program and get into a nursing home job. But, because of health complications from the pregnancy, Rainbow had to stop going to classes. To help her situation and her new 9-month-old child, Rainbow was able to move to Summit County and continue working with her Career Specialist. They worked hard to get Rainbow to graduate. According to her Career Specialist, Lauren Eaken, “Rainbow’s hard work will pay off with her walking across that graduation stage. After five years of high school, Rainbow will proudly be walking in graduation in May 2024!”

Today, Rainbow is working alongside her Career Specialist to get into a job to help support her family and become more independent. She is excited for her future after graduation and is grateful for her experience with JOG! We are proud of the work Rainbow has done to overcome her odds and are excited to hear more about her future successes.