Barbara Stamper is used to starting over.

She started over as a parent 16 years ago when—after her two sons were grown—she began raising her 5-month-old grandson. Barbara, now 52, recently started parenting yet again when she adopted that boy’s 18-month-old half brother. But those experiences had not prepared her for loss of her job of 29 years and the prospect of starting over in a new career.

With determination and a little help, Barbara met the challenge to start over again, and today she is licensed practical nurse at The Terrace nursing and rehabilitation facility in Berea. Along the way, she had help from the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Dislocated Worker program and other federal aid.

In April 2002, Barbara’s longtime job at Richmond’s Process Manufacturing ended when the company moved some of its operations to Canada and Mexico. Along with her job, Barbara also lost benefits and a retirement that was just around the corner. But with her new job in healthcare she has gained a large measure of security against having to struggle to find work again. Because of the uncertainty she faced after her layoff, Barbara is confident she made the right choice in her new career.

“I was president of our local union at the factory,” Barbara says. “While I was trying to keep rumors down and keep people informed of what was going to happen, I was thinking to myself that I was almost 50 years old, middle-aged, raising a grandson, and I was going to be out of a job with no insurance.”

Despite having nearly three decades of experience in manufacturing, Barbara decided that returning to that sector was not an option. She enrolled at Somerset Community College, where she earned a diploma in practical nursing with the help of Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Dislocated Worker funds and other federal assistance.

Barbara says her choice to pursue a practical nursing career was hardly impulsive. In fact, ample past experience as a “first responder” at her factory helped steer her toward the medical field.

“I handled first aid after accidents, and I kept up on my CPR classes,” she says. “I enjoyed tending to cuts and injuries, and I actually used to kid around that if something ever happened to our company, I would go back to school to become a nurse.”

In her new career, hand tools have been replaced by insulin syringes, a stethoscope, a blood pressure cuff, and the other tools of her new trade. Manufacturing machines have been replaced by about 60 patients who need Barbara’s care to heal and remain healthy. Barbara says this “human element” is her favorite aspect of her job.

“I really enjoy rehabilitating people so they can get back to their normal lives,” she says. “Whenever you tell them they’re going to be dismissed the next day, the smiles on their faces are just unbelievable. I get attached to them and hate to see them go, but getting to see them go home is really what it’s all about.”

After she was laid off, Barbara visited the Kentucky Office for Employment and Training (OET) in Richmond. Because she lives in Jackson County, officials there referred her to the Daniel Boone Development Council (DBDC) in McKee to find out how the WIA Dislocated Worker Program could help her. The DBDC office is an access point for the JobSight network, a collaborative partnership of workforce and training agencies administered by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP).

Thanks to the inter-agency partnerships in the JobSight network, Barbara was also referred to the OET office in Jackson County for help obtaining Unemployment Insurance (UI). She also learned that a provision of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) would provide some financial assistance toward her college tuition.

That assistance allowed Barbara to begin classes at Somerset Community College only four months after her layoff. The WIA’s support allowed Barbara to afford the daily drive into Laurel County and back that kept her on the road nearly three hours per day. WIA funds covered her college-related gas and food expenses. The program also paid for summer courses, which let her settle into a year-round routine of classes and clinicals until she graduated in December 2004.

“I wanted to do that so I could get on through it, and the WIA made it where I could,” Barbara says. “If people want to redirect their lives in other ways, and they’ve got the will, anything is possible with the WIA. Financially, I just couldn’t have afforded to drive all that way and go to school without it.”

In addition to the financial boost provided by the program, Barbara says WIA Career Adviser Susan Patton provided one-on-one motivation when the challenges of juggling motherhood, housekeeping duties, and college work became intense.

“If I needed to talk to anyone when I got down and was thinking that things just weren’t working, Susan was a great support,” Barbara says. “She is a super-nice person, a great listener, and she was supportive in everything I did.”

With her career and future now secure, Barbara says she has been able to focus more fully on her family, which recently grew when she adopted 18-month-old Jakerius.

After waiting a little longer, “to get back in the groove of being a mom,” Barbara says she plans to go back to college in January to complete the final two classes required to earn her associate’s degree.

She is not content to stop there. Thanks to the WIA support that helped get her where she is, she does not have to.

“I eventually would like to become a registered nurse, doing a couple of classes at a time until I’m able to earn that degree,” Barbara says. “It might take me a long time, but I’ll get there. I’ve come too far to stop now.”