“I’m a single mom. I work two jobs, and I was thinking if I apply to the semiconductor training program (at Fresh Start), it would at least help me financially to make more money.”
In 2006, Emerita* and her one-year-old daughter immigrated to the United States from the Philippines. She married an American man before separating five years later when her daughter was seven.
“When we moved out of his place, I became a single parent again. We moved into a one-bedroom apartment… I’ve worked two jobs since I separated from my husband because I can’t survive with only one job.”
Emerita held two jobs for the next 12 years to make ends meet. She worked over 70 hours a week between the two positions and somehow managed to pay for her daughter to go to college in the Phoenix area.
“I sent her to college even when I struggled financially. When she was in her first year of college, she went to Grand Canyon University, and it was very expensive. I was struggling to pay with credit cards, but I still made it.”
Before her daughter’s second year of college, Emerita made the tough decision to pull her daughter from GCU, and she transferred to Glendale Community College.
“I told her: ‘I can’t afford it anymore.’ And now I don’t pay anything for her school because GCC is all paid for by FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).”
During the holiday season, Emerita was shocked to learn that her main employer, a fiber optics company, was going out of business, and she would no longer be employed.
Around the same time, one of her friends was graduating from a Fresh Start career training program, and Emerita was invited to her graduation.
“When I told her that the company I was working for was going out of business soon, she encouraged me to apply for a Fresh Start training program.”
She quickly applied and was accepted into the semiconductor technician training program at Fresh Start, which began in Fall 2024. She even encouraged one of her oldest friends to take the program with her.
“Melba* and I have been friends since I moved to Arizona. We worked together at our first company. I told her about the program, and we decided to do it together. We asked each other if we had questions or problems. There was never a moment that I felt like giving up; I’m a fighter.”
The two-week program was a whirlwind of education for Emerita, who also had to balance her work hours with the class hours of the semiconductor technician program.
“The issue with me was that to get to the (semiconductor technician) classes at Mesa Community College, I had to drive more than an hour and wake up early to get to work. I leave my house at 4:30 a.m., the class was until 8:30 p.m., and then I’m home almost by 10 p.m. Those two weeks, I was struggling.”
After graduating from the semiconductor technician program, Emerita was excited to get a job, organize her finances, and realize her goal of buying her own home.
She hopes that other women who need a new avenue to financial independence and stability will find Fresh Start and its programs.
“I would tell other women that at Fresh Start, they can get the help they need to improve everything about their lives.”