WE CONGRATULATE NAKIYA!

Congratula onsÊtoÊNakiyaÊforÊherÊnewÊjobÊposi onÊasÊCer fiedÊNurseÊAssistantÊ(CNA)!ÊNakiyaÊjoinedÊtheÊAACFÊYouthÊWorkforceÊDevelopmentÊProgramÊinÊAprilÊandÊpoweredÊthroughÊtheÊprogram,ÊreceivingÊfinancialÊaidÊtoÊcoverÊhalfÊtheÊcostÊofÊherÊ CNAÊtraining.ÊSheÊtookÊtheÊstateÊboardÊexamÊandÊreceivedÊherÊCNAÊlicenseÊandÊlandedÊaÊgreatÊjobÊinÊaÊChicagoÊsuburbÊlastÊ month.

NakiyaÊlearnedÊaboutÊtheÊAACFÊYouthÊWorkforceÊDevelopmentÊProgramÊfromÊaÊfriendÊwhoÊbenefi edÊfromÊtheÊprogramÊ earlierÊinÊtheÊyear.ÊSheÊcalledÊtheÊofficeÊandÊwasÊassignedÊtoÊcaseÊmanagerÊChuckitaÊwhoÊfirstÊwalkedÊherÊthroughÊtheÊintakeÊ processÊofÊfillingÊoutÊpaperworkÊandÊthenÊenrolledÊherÊinÊworkforceÊdevelopmentÊclassesÊonÊZoom.ÊChuckitaÊhelpedÊNakiyaÊ withÊfindingÊCNAÊtrainingÊandÊsubmi ngÊallÊofÊtheÊpaperworkÊtoÊbeginÊherÊclassesÊonÊ meÊtoÊbegin.

PreviousÊemploymentÊforÊNakiyaÊhasÊincludedÊworkingÊasÊaÊpackageÊhandlerÊatÊAmazonÊandÊinÊtheÊapparelÊsec onÊatÊ WalmartÊandÊTarget.ÊSheÊdidÊnotÊalwaysÊenjoyÊtheseÊjobsÊbutÊsheÊmadeÊitÊthroughÊandÊworkedÊhardÊatÊherÊCNAÊclassesÊsoÊ thatÊsheÊcouldÊstartÊherÊcareerÊinÊhealthcare.InÊherÊCNAÊroleÊNakiyaÊassistsÊnursesÊandÊworksÊwithÊtheÊpa entsÊmobility,Ê meals,Êbathing,ÊandÊdailyÊrecrea onalÊac vi esÊsuchÊasÊplayingÊbingoÊandÊsocializing. “I love helping others!” - Nakiya NakiyaÊlovesÊworkingÊinÊhealthcareÊandÊisÊexcitedÊtoÊcon nueÊonÊherÊcareerÊpath.ÊSheÊhasÊgoalsÊofÊcon nuingÊgainingÊcer fica onsÊinÊphlebotomyÊandÊsonographyÊandÊwouldÊconsiderÊbecomingÊaÊRegisteredÊNurseÊasÊsheÊcon nuesÊgrowingÊinÊherÊ profession.ÊGratefulÊforÊtheÊprogram,ÊNakiyaÊwouldÊreferÊfriendsÊandÊfamilyÊmembersÊifÊtheyÊneededÊhelpÊwithÊjobÊtrainingÊ andÊworkforceÊdevelopment.

A Strong Start To A New Career

Congratulations to Ayanna for recently receiving her Pharmacy Technician license and certification. We are proud of all that you have accomplished!

Ayanna has created a strong start on her chosen career path after having learned of AACF’s workforce development program just a couple of months ago. She joined AACF’s youth workforce development program after learning about the organization from Ms. Matilda, her instructor at Info Trainers pharmacy tech school. After receiving a Zoom link for an AACF orientation from Ms. Matilda, Abrianna attended and learned about the youth workforce development program. Shortly after Chuckita Smith, a case manager at AACF, reached out to her.

Working together with Chuckita, Ayanna was placed in a one month paid internship with Proviso Township. She enjoyed the office work and loved the staff. Additionally, she was able to choose her work schedule which allowed her to continue with her classes at the pharmacy tech school. Ayanna is soon to complete her pharmacy tech training. She was advised to apply for her license and certification early as that will enable to seek a job immediately after completing her course work.

As a 21 year old single mother of a four year old, Ayanna’s goal is a stable career.

She lives independently in her own apartment and needs to provide for herself and her son. She has worked at McDonald’s, as a home healthcare provider, and in security. In those jobs Ayanna experienced a combination of poor employee treatment, part time hours, and poor working environment, including receiving late paychecks, harassment, and even being threatened on the job. In order to provide a healthy home for herself and her son she will need full time work with healthcare benefits.

Ayanna has already received her pharmacy tech license and certification and is within days of finishing her classes. She will then need to complete a two week internship at a Walgreens of her choice and then she will be out on the job market to start her career as a pharmacy technician.

Ayanna has told her friends about the AACF youth workforce development program, and she is very grateful for Case Manager Chuckita, in her own words: “with helping me - I told her that my life was too much, too stressful. Chuckita is great. We talk about more than AACFshe checks up on me and my well-being. We talk 2-3 times per week.”

We are glad that you found us Ayanna. Keep up the great work and kudos on your new career!

ON THE FAST-TRACK TO SUCCESS

A few weeks ago Brittany Winbush’s mother found a flyer in her neighborhood for an AACF sponsored job fair. Brittany attended the job fair, made contact with Tami Yarbrough, AACF Program Development Director, and followed up with phone calls and texts. Brittany submitted program participant onboarding paperwork and completed an online interest inventory - which told her what she already knew about herself: she enjoys business and working with math and calculations. Brittany has her Bachelors of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois at Champaign Urbana, Illinois, and has worked for a family construction company for the payroll department for the past two years. AACF staff quickly recognized her potential and fast-tracked her to an internship with the organization. In just three short weeks into the internship she has acquired the reputation for being of high intelligence, reliable, dependable, and detail oriented.

One of the many things Brittany enjoys about interning with AACF, a relatively small not-for-profit, is the ability to learn about many different aspects of the business and to try out her hand at different tasks. She has enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of supportive services and elements of non profit fundraising, as well as learning QuickBooks on the job to assist with AACF accounting. But what Brittany enjoys most about her AACF internship is helping the clients. She has assisted with matching clients with existing job openings and with keeping track of payroll. Britney has also helped program participants with their onboarding paperwork, polishing their resumes, and applying to various work programs.

Black Health And Wellness

Black health and wellness was this year’s theme for Black History Month, during the month of February, shining light on Black contributions to the field of health and wellness and also commemorating the ways in which Blacks have stayed well throughout the course of Black history in the US.

There are numerous documented and undocumented accounts of Black contributions to the field of health and wellness in the US. Documented on the African American Policy Forum (AAPF) website are several Black contributors to the history of medicine. Here are three of them:

1783: James Durham was born into slavery in 1762. He learned how to read, write and work with patients from several physicians who owned him throughout his childhood, and came to New Orleans in 1783. Eventually, he bought his freedom and opened a medical practice in the city, where he cared for patients of all racial backgrounds. Although he did not have a formal medical degree, Durham was successful in treating patients with diphtheria, and saved a high number of patients who experienced yellow fever during an outbreak in 1789.

1864: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, M.D. becomes the first Black woman physician in the United States after earning her degree from the New England Female Medical College in Boston. Nineteen years later, she published the Book of Medical Disclosures, a volume of medical advice for women and children.

1939: Charles Drew, M.D. a surgeon, discovers that blood plasma can be dried and reconstituted when needed, making it an effective substitute for whole blood transfusions. He developed ways to process and preserve plasma in “blood banks,” a procedure that saved the lives of countless American soldiers during World War II and in later conflicts.

(AAFP, February 5, 2021)

The history of Black Health and Wellness also commemorates how Blacks stayed healthy in the face of racial inequality from the time of slavery up until present day. Early on Blacks used natural medicine as treatment when barred from White hospitals and medical clinics. And later after the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution outlawed slavery in 1855, Blacks joined together and Cont. on page 7