Lori Hylton says graduating from college and becoming a registered nurse means more to her than just gaining entry into a high-demand medical career. It means escaping what once had seemed like an endless cycle of minimum-wage jobs and getting past the failed attempts at college that had plagued her in the past.

The Workforce Investment Act (WIA) program was there to ensure that Lori stayed the course and finally achieved her goals of a college degree and a good-paying job in a thriving profession.

Lori, 28, began working at St. Claire Regional Medical Center in Morehead in early July, about a month after earning her associate’s degree in nursing from Morehead State University (MSU).

“MSU’s nursing program is very demanding, so it’s something you really have to have a desire to do and want to do,” Lori says. “WIA helped me focus on my classes without having to worry so much about finances.”

Lori first began college after graduating high school in 1997, but soon dropped out to start her family. Her journey toward a degree and new career began again in earnest in 2002.

“I had done factory work and worked as a secretary before I decided to go back to school, but I never made much more than minimum wage,” Lori says. “I decided this was never going to take me anywhere, so I chose to go back to school.”

After taking core classes for more than a year, Lori chose to pursue a nursing career. A friend who was also applying for acceptance into MSU’s nursing program suggested Lori contact WIA Career Adviser Sidney Castle to check out how WIA could help cover her college costs.

Sidney works at Gateway Community Action in West Liberty, an access point for the JobSight network. JobSight is a collaborative partnership of workforce and training agencies administered by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP). EKCEP—a Hazard-based nonprofit agency—administers WIA and other workforce development programs in 23 eastern Kentucky counties.

Although other financial aid covered Lori’s tuition and textbook fees, WIA supportive services helped cover the costs of her daily gas, food, and other expenses while she attended college. WIA also helped pay for Lori’s “scrubs,” stethoscope, and other medical equipment needed during her clinical rotations at St. Claire and Mary Chiles Hospital in Mt. Sterling.

“I feel like had it not been for the WIA, Lori would have struggled more than she did, and it might have taken her even longer to achieve her goals,” Sidney says. “The income Lori will make in her new career will make a huge difference for her and her children, and we’re very proud that WIA was there to help her.”

Enjoying the sense of accomplishment that goes along with starting a successful career is not stopping Lori from looking toward the future. She says she would like to go back to college to earn a bachelor’s degree and eventually a master’s degree, in order to become a nurse practitioner.

But Lori says she is content now to get her nursing career started, and she is grateful that WIA was there to help her enter that career.

“Training for a new career can seem hard—even impossible at times—but you just have to keep working at it and eventually you’ll get there,” Lori says. “It can be hard financially, too, but there are so many things out there that can help, and WIA definitely made a difference for me.”

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