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"I wanted to change my career,” Johnson said. “It was something. I learned how to handcuff people and I learned a lot about safety.”

Johnson showed promise in her job readiness class and Retention Specialist Emma Price suggested that she look into the WIA program.

“She liked dealing with people and working in the public eye,” Price said of Johnson. “One of my prior clients was successful getting involved with security, so I suggest it now to some of my clients who haven’t had a lot of convictions.”

Designed to help people with significant economic barriers pursue a certain career path, the WIA program provides an opportunity to attend certification courses. Whether a client wants to be a barber or a welder or, in Johnson’s case, a security guard, the WIA program can help him or her achieve that goal.

When she entered the WIA program, Johnson was paired with Intensive Case Manager Jeremy Geiger, who made sure she was a good candidate.

“We gave her a basic assessment to show she was of low-income status and that she had the mentality to complete the program,” Geiger said. “I talked to Miss Price and made sure Angeline had been coming to retention group. After she entered the training, she came to see me once a week to get her car fare to class and I checked in with the training provider to see if she was showing up.”

He went on to add that she was a model student in the training sessions.

“She will be able to work for any unarmed security company now,” he said.

As for Johnson, she was grateful for the help she received at Safer Foundation.

“It’s been great,” she said. “They’ve been in my corner the whole time. A friend of mine was a client here and he told me to come. I really wouldn’t have been able to do it without Safer.”

--David Dexter