TEXARKANA - Mission Texarkana and the local United Way are providing approximately 40 people with free training to take the necessary state exams required to become Certified Nursing Assistants.
The program is about 20 years old and is primarily funded by the United Way of Greater Texarkana and Mission Texarkana. They interview around 14 applicants a quarter and select applicants who could use the help, in order to provide local nursing homes and hospitals with prepared CNAs.
"What we try to identify with the questions we ask on the application are those who we believe not only have the ability to make it through the class, but those who need the class," Mission Texarkana Director Cody Howard said. "The ultimate goal is to benefit these individuals who are experiencing these low-wage jobs. In Texarkana, if you work 40 hours a week at a minimum wage job, you can't afford a two-bedroom apartment. A lot of people don't know that."
One applicant was a mother with five children whose husband is the manager of a fast food restaurant, where she also works 35 hours a week. They are having a hard time taking care of their kids.
Another was a young woman who was paying her own way to attend college with dreams of attending nursing school, until she was let go due to COVID-19 and could no longer afford tuition.
"So what we try to do is get the ones that we believe will truly benefit from the class and train them," Howard said.
The course provided is a month long, and is taught by Liz Gunn - instructor and program director for the CNA program for about 20 years.
Howard said Gunn is the perfect person for the job, due to her ability to exceed the basic requirements of a teacher.
"When the girls come into class, a lot of the time the needs exceed financial," he said. "Sometimes they need a friend or to know they're seen and heard and cared for. So Liz fills a lot of roles. Not just the role of teacher, but the role of a mother, babysitter, tutor."
Howard said he's gotten positive feedback from local nursing homes and hospitals about the students they send their way, because they are motivated and driven.
"We get feedback from local nursing homes and hospitals consistently, telling us that the students we train are some of the most desired because Ms. Liz is a very good teacher," he said. "Her being a good teacher, coupled with these folks' desire to invest in themselves and create a more financially stable life for their children and themselves - that creates CNAs. And the local nursing homes and hospitals want them."
Mission Texarkana is currently holding some of their first classes since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Programs like this allow a person the opportunity to improve their lives and also to give back to those they serve," said Mark Bledsoe, CEO/President of United Way Of Greater Texarkana.