The following is a snap shot of customers who benefited from NFJP services over the past year. These customers endured great hardship to achieve their training and occupational goals. Please join us in congratulating them on their individual and family achievements.

Alvin Clark

Position Title: Truck Driver
Employer: Mavericks Trucking
Salary: $3,000.00 Monthly
Training Institution: C-1 Truck Driver Training, North Little Rock, AR
Case Manager: Greg Davis

“Thank you!!! To the Arkansas Human Development Corporation (AHDC). From the moment I walked inside my life changed. I was greeted by smiling, friendly faces.

My expectations were to be put on a waiting list, to be told to come back. I was wrong; Mr. Greg Davis greeted me, asked me to have a seat, then started changing my life. I was treated with respect and he made me feel that I was the most important person that he had in his office. He pushed aside all the paper work on his desk to make room for mine (and there were a lot of papers). That day Mr. Davis offered me opportunity, hope, and a future. Mr. Davis, I feel you never forgot my situation. He gave me his number to call if I had any questions, doubts or fears. I was offered the opportunity to go to Pine Bluff Truck Driving School or C-1 Truck Driver Training in North Little Rock, AR. I chose C1-Truck Driver Training. It was the best decision I’ve ever made. I’ve received my CDL License, now companies are inviting me to come to orientations for jobs which are $30-$50 thousand dollars a year jobs, and that’s just the first year. I also would like to give special thanks to Ms. Linda Scott for her time and patience with Mr. Davis. The AHDC is a wonderful organization with not just people, but real human beings changing lives. I would recommend it to anyone that is looking for hope and opportunity.”

Corey Danekas

Position Title: Welding Instructor
Employer: Arkansas Technical University, Ozark Campus
Salary: $31,950.00
Training Institution: Arkansas Technical University, Ozark AR
Case Manager: Wanda Gibson

Corey Danekas loved farm work and had relied on agricultural employment to support himself since the age of fourteen. At the age of twenty and with a new wife, however, he quickly realized that he would need more earnings to support his family. After testing and counseling services Corey determined that he was interested in welding. Ms. Wanda Gibson, his employment counselor, helped enroll him into the Welding Program at Arkansas Technical University at Ozark.

Corey quickly became a stand-out in the welding program and was given a summer teaching position following the untimely death of the welding instructor. He was then given a teaching contract for the 2008-2009 term, with the possibility of renewal at the end of 2009. Corey plans to make welding instruction his career but also intends to pursue his love of agriculture by helping his former agricultural employer on weekends.

William Pharr

Position Title: Sanitation Truck Driver
Employer: City of Dumas Sanitation Department
Salary: $8.45 Hourly
Training Institution: Pine Bluff Truck Driving School
Case Manager: Sharon Burns

Mr. Pharr had been driving tractors for a local farmer when he was told that he was being laid off and that the farm would be sold. He had been searching for a job for seven months when he visited the local office in Dumas. He lost both his parents at a young age and did not complete high school. Although his skills were limited he had a ferocious work ethic.

Mr. Pharr was determined eligible for the National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP), received counseling assistance and was enrolled into the Pine Bluff Truck Driving Program where he received his Commercial Drivers License (CDL). The staff worked with him on job search techniques and he was hired as a truck driver in the Dumas Sanitation Department. Ms. Sharon Burns, his employment counselor says, “everytime I see him drive by the office in the truck he has a big smile on his face because he is so happy to be working.”