Work program opens doors for job seekers

By Mike James
The Ashland Daily Independent

ASHLAND - Working at a discount store paid the bills - just barely.

Kelly Forbes wasn't satisfied with just barely.

The mother of two has not only found a way to get better-paying jobs, she's talked her husband into moving up from his own low-end employment as a fry cook at a local restaurant.

Her solution was the Ready to Work program, more commonly known as "welfare to work," which prepares those on public assistance for successful careers.

Although she had to leave her Wal-Mart job to get into the program, Kelly Forbes isn't lazing around their Ashland apartment, and neither is her husband Glenn.

Kelly, 26, juggles full-time classes at Ashland Community and Technical College with an internship in the billing department of King's Daughters Medical Center, a work-study position in the Ready-to-Work office at ACTC, and taking care of the children, 4-year-old Ema-leigh and Edne, 2.

Glenn Forbes, 28, takes automotive classes at ACTC and works part-time at the Ashland Firestone store; besides helping out with the toddlers he has another son, Jesse Tackett, who spends weekends with them.

The commitment in time is worth it, they say. "I had skills," Kelly said. "But you have to have that paper."

After enrolling in the program, the 1996 Fairview High School graduate used her considerable persuasive skills on RTW coordinator Regina Twinam to secure her work-study position in the office, and on her husband - to get him out of the kitchen and into the classroom.

"I harassed him every day: 'Do you want to drop fries all your life?'"

Glenn took a lot of persuading, because he was making decent money as a cook. A dropout from Boyd County High School who'd gotten his GED, he wasn't sure whether he wanted more out of life.

He finally confronted the future in the shape of his 7-year-old son, asking himself: "How can I tell him to stay in school when I didn't further my education after high school?"

Twinam calls Kelly "a self-starter" who doesn't need much instruction. She assists Twinam with reports and statistical matters and keeps track of the college schedule and deadlines that other RTW students need to know. "She's the kind of person I try to hire, people who are self-motivated, because I don't have time to tell them everything," Twinam said.

Glenn is the first RTW employee Firestone has had, said his supervisor, Brian New. "He's a hard worker with a great attitude."

So far New is pleased with the RTW program. "It benefits the employer because you have a person that's basically at your store working and learning your trade while the program is paying the salary."

The chief benefit for the employer, however, is the chance to train the worker correctly and prepare him for possible full-time employment, New said. "A lot of times a new hire will bring bad habits from where they worked before." Training a worker like Glenn is a long-term investment in instilling the professionalism the company requires, he said.

With the holiday season approaching, Glenn and Kelly are excited about being able to provide for their children. "We'll be able to give them Christmas this year," she said.

Being enrolled and working with RTW has sparked in Kelly a sense of civic engagement. She's gotten involved with community activities and encouraged others to do the same.

The achievements of RTW students are the more remarkable because of the barriers they face, Twinam said. Substandard housing and cars, difficulty in finding and paying for child care, lack of awareness of resources - "they come in with many barriers," she said.

MIKE JAMES can be reached at mjames@dailyindependent.com or at (606) 326-2652.