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Frequent relocation is part of the Military Spouse lifestyle. These moves often result in the Military Spouse giving up their employment to relocate with their spouse. This often causes the Military Spouse to have gaps in their work history. Stephanie Carter is such a military spouse. She and her family transferred from Jacksonville, FL in 2007. Stephanie utilized the services of the Military Family Employment Advocacy Program at Workforce Escarosa for assistance in gaining employment and in receiving tuition assistance to provide her with “in-demand skills” which will increase her employability. Stephanie began attending Southern Illinois University Carbondale at NAS Pensacola as she enrolled in the Health Care Management Bachelor’s program. She is currently able to take classes at Pensacola Junior College as a transit student through the military employment program tuition assistance support services. Her goal is to become a Patient Advocate. She is also a temporary employee at Public Works as an Administrative Accounting Clerk. Stephanie set a goal to complete her education and achieve it during the time she and her family are stationed at NAS Pensacola. This will allow her to be more employable as she moves to their next duty station.

Due to the economic downfall, Todd Brant, a divorced father of two, was laid off from his job as a Draftsman/CADD Technician in November of 2008, after being employed with the company for over nine years. Mr. Brandt attended the Unemployment Compensation Orientation held at Workforce Escarosa Career Center in Milton. During the presentation, he learned about the Non-Custodial Parent Placement Program and applied to the program in December 2008. Mr. Brandt began an intensive job search to find gainful employment. In February 2009, Mr. Brandt was hired by the Joe Pattie Shipyard as a full-time CADD Technician earning $14.00 per hour. Mr. Brandt feels that the support services received from the non-custodial parent program really helped him get back on his feet. By the time Mr. Brandt completed his tenure with the Non-Custodial program, he was earning $15.00 an hour at the shipyard and he just closed on his own home.

After giving birth to her son Jacob in 2003, La’Toya Floyd realized that as a single parent, working at temporary employment and call center jobs was not going to provide her with the type of life that she dreamed of for her son. Help from the child’s father was almost non-existent. La’ Toya worked at a call center for two years, only to be laid off when sales went down. She made a decision to go back to school in search of a better future and study to become a registered nurse. With bills, no job, and daycare expenses, school was a real struggle until she heard of Workforce Escarosa. Once in the WIA program, La’Toya could see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the help of the WIA program, La’Toya was able to complete her education. She graduated in August 2009 and was hired as a registered nurse by Maxim Health Care Services, 40 hours a week earning $30.00 an hour. La’Toya said, “The WIA program helped me make my dreams come true: to become a registered nurse and to give me the means I needed to give my son the future that he and I deserve”.

Ashley Larson is the oldest of four children raised by her single mom. Their family income is low and Ashley had to find a way to pay for her college education. She went to work for one day with a Dental Hygienist and realized that she would really enjoy the dental career field. She found out the program was very expensive but she was determined to find a way to pay for it. Ashley was awarded a Pell grant for the first few semesters and a Bright Future scholarship, but it did not cover the expenses of the Dental Hygiene program. She decided that she would keep working as a waitress to pay for her school expenses. But as the program progressed, the classes got harder and extra activities-study time outside of class was required, Ashley realized she would not be able to continue to work. With Ashley’s dream career slipping away because of lack of finances, someone suggested that she to talk to Workforce Escarosa about the WIA program. With WIA’s help, Ashley was able to concentrate more on her studies and not worry about the financial problems she was once having. She has proven to her younger siblings that it is possible to finish college with the limited income her family has. She successfully graduated in May 2009 with an A.A. S. in Dental Hygiene, passed both the National Dental Hygiene Board and the Florida Dental Hygiene Board, and shortly after found a job with Dentist Dr. Nicole Barrineau, earning $20.00 an hour.