Success Story
Howishia’s Story
Howishia McFadden, 25, climbed that career ladder, graduating from both the CNA and the PCT programs. Before the course, the single mother of three had been grinding away at a low-paying call center job, making Holiday Inn reservations for strangers on the phone.
“There is a sense of hopelessness around here,” she said. “Like, ‘Oh well, I know I can’t find anything better because I don’t have the education.”
When she saw a flyer in a gas station for the CNA and PCT. courses, McFadden signed up right away.
During her rotation at the Summerville Medical Center, McFadden observed a doctor perform a Caesarean section. “Just to be there in the room with the doctors and everybody – just being there to comfort [the patient], that brought a lot of joy,” McFadden said.
McFadden says some of her friends got interested in the CNA program once they learned of it. “When they see you doing something positive, they want to get on board and do what you’re doing,” she noted.
It has affected her family, too. Her one-year-old has started toddling around the house with a book in her hand. “Now my daughter sees my homework,” McFadden said. “Instead of saying, Mama’s just going to a job, she says, I want to be like my mother. That’s how it makes a difference.”
Because McFadden and about 67 other graduates of the PRC health courses live in St. George, they put most of their earnings back into the local marketplace. The economic impact on St. George alone is substantial, Renee Rivers said.