ALABAMA – For many people who didn’t finish high school, the only thing standing between them and their career goal is a diploma.
A local program that is helping more than 500 young adults close that gap right now.
“11.2% of the Dothan area don’t have a GED or high school diploma and that leads to long term financial instability on average that group makes $10,000 less than someone with a diploma,” says Saliba Center for Families’ Career Designs for Youth coordinator George Storey.
That’s why Career Designs for Youth is on a mission to help 16 to 24 years old finish their high school education.
CDY is partnered with Wallace Community College and the Dothan Career Center to provide free tutoring, educational case management, and monetary incentives.
“If you get GED, we will give you $100. If you get a job and you’re there for three months we’re going to give you money. It’s just different ways for students to not only have people come alongside them but also to help them get some benefits and inspire them to finish,” says Storey.
Over the years, the program has served as an alternative route for high school dropouts.
“Often what’s happened is they are disillusioned with school or they hit a rough patch. This is kind of my philosophy…. I can’t fix what happened, but we can change the trajectory of the future,” says Storey.
It’s also a solution for students hurdling other obstacles.
“I didn’t drop out of school I just was going to go to homeschool but I missed a year and homeschool didn’t work out so my mom was like let’s get your GED so we went, says CDY member Raven Catlin.
CDY is helping Raven reach her goal of attending Wallace Community College and then Troy University to study nursing.
“Anything you need help with they will help you, they will be there for you. They are helping me to get to know more about the work and stuff and how college will be,” says Catlin.
