The moment Mellie walked into Steps 2 Success, she wasn’t looking for a handout — she was looking for a path forward. “I knew it was definitely an avenue for me to go into,” she recalled. A mother of three strong, successful daughters and a proud grandmother and great-grandmother, Mellie had spent her life caring for others. She worked sporadically as a CNA/HHA through a local staffing agency, contracted for private care assignments that came and went without warning. The wor

Walking into the on-site food pantry at Lutheran Social Services last week, I noticed something troubling: our shelves looked bare. The crates that usually overflowed with donations had room to spare. At first, I wondered—was it just the end of the week? Were we waiting on our next shipment to come in? Unfortunately, that was not the case. Funding cuts to the USDA means that food pantries like ours are receiving significantly less resources than before. Still, through donatio

At 59, Jacqueline was ready for a new chapter, but she faced a job market that often overlooks older workers. She was hindered by the perception that she might not have the skillset needed to succeed in a world where technology advances rapidly. A recent graduate of FSCJ with an Associate of Arts degree, she was eager to build a brighter future despite the obstacles in her way. After a lifetime devoted to family and working to simply making ends meet, Jacqueline carried a qui