Like many others in Southern California and the rest of the country, Francisco Lopez’ economic outlook became grim when he was laid off from his job at an industrial factory due to COVID-19 budget cuts.
Francisco drained his savings to buy an RV as he was forced to leave his apartment, store his belongings and look for part-time jobs to sustain his family. At the beginning of 2023, his state unemployment benefits ran out, his RV roof was leaking, and he was out of money for his day-to-day expenses.
That’s when he found out about the JVS So Cal ApartmentWorks program, which became a lifesaver for him.
“Today, I have a steady income, so I’m not struggling as I was before I started the JVS SoCal program. It’s changed my life for the better. I look forward to what’s what’s in store for the future,” said Francisco, a 32-year-old ApartmentWorks graduate.
His search for a job took him to Craigslist, where he initially found out about the program. At first, he was skeptical because of the nature of the program, which offers an intensive 8-week career training program with skills training, job placement assistance, and ongoing career coaching at no cost to participants.
“When I started reading what it consisted of it intrigued me…I never heard of programs that do it for free. When I applied, I didn’t think I was going to get a response back, but eventually I got an email back,” remembers Francisco.
Lopez had to do the initial interview for the program through audio on his cellphone from his RV. The program manager was impressed that he passed all of the assessments and later gave a strong interview face-to-face, through FaceTime on his iPhone.
Francisco also received financial assistance from JVS So Cal so he could fix his leaking roof, get gas for his portable generator, as well as acquire food and personal hygiene items so he could concentrate on the eight-week program.
“The program was a great learning experience for me. At one point I was able to transfer the skill set I acquired from my last job and honestly, I got to meet a lot of great people,” shares Francisco. “The instructors are great, all the staff and the things that I learned were something new that I’ve never really dealt with, even though we have appliances at home.”
His skills were rapidly noticed, as one of the key features of the ApartmentWorks program is the opportunity to get interviewed by representatives of our employer partners in a private job fair at the program’s graduation. The process didn’t take long for Francisco, as he was hired by Greaystar and started working one week later.
“That’s very important, that’s one of the major parts that I liked about ApartmentWorks,” explains Francisco. “Without having JVS SoCal behind us to support us… it takes a lot of time for somebody to get hired. We might have been at the bottom of the list because they have so many applications.”
Francisco is now working at Hollywood’s Jardine complex as a maintenance worker, earning $23 an hour. He is liked by everyone, both co-workers and residents, and has growth opportunities ahead of him. He has shared his experience with his brother and friends and, most importantly, is on the path to financial stability and a thriving career. “Things are getting a lot better. I’m in the process of finding housing, my financial stability is getting better, and I’m not struggling to meet my day-to-day needs,” concludes Francisco.
If you’d like to help someone else find the same success as Francisco, please donate today.