Niada Crespo searched for jobs for six months but the single mother was never hired. She was living with her uncle, but he planed to move out of state, making her feel increasingly desperate about her efforts to start a life for herself and her son in Central Florida.
Then, after applying for public assistance, she learned of a new program that would pay for on-the-job training and subsidize childcare so she could take part in the get-off-welfare initiative.
“It was life changing because I was on the edge, ready to give up and losing hope. And having a kid made it very hard,” Crespo said.
The new initiative, launched in April by Goodwill and CareerSource Central Florida, allows people on public assistance to do paid, 12-week stints at a Goodwill Retail and Donation Center.
Participants get help with childcare and transportation and are assigned a job coach. Upon completion, they can stay at Goodwill as an employee, get help applying for a job elsewhere, or use a scholarship to attend local schools like Valencia College and Seminole State College.
CareerSource, already focused on helping residents get off public assistance, hopes its new, more intensive services will produce better results.
“We’re trying to figure out in this pilot program, if people were supported in their first 12 weeks of work with literally a job coach, what outcomes could we have,” said Gina Ronokarijo, vice president of workforce operations at CareerSource.
So far, 23 people —– mostly single mothers — have completed the course, and 16, including Crespo, are employed fulltime. The rest are working with CareerSource to find jobs or are in school.
CareerSource, pleased with the early results, hopes to expand the program, which now has funding to run through next month, serving a total of about 60 people.
A key to its success, officials say, is deeply subsidized childcare that participants can continue to access for two years.
A federal grant pays those costs for parents who are at “the most critical point,” said Scott Fritz, CEO of the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County, the state agency that administers the childcare funding.
Without that, program participants would be in the long line for subsidized childcare, which in Orange has a waitlist of about 2,000, he said.
Another key to the program’s success, Ronokarijo said, are coaches that offer participants on-the-job support.
“Our participants are learning from their coach how to navigate and adapt to changes that they’ll face at any job,” Ronokarijo said. “They’re learning how to get along in the workplace, how to communicate.”
Crespo said the coaches created a supportive environment for her and the other women in the program.
“If they were emotional, he’s there for them. He gives them a break, gives them time,” Crespo said.
Niada Crespo at the front counter of the Goodwill Retail and Donation Center in Orlando on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. Crespo attended a new job training program launched in April by Goodwill and CareerSource, and now works full-time at the Goodwill Retail located on Orange Blossom Trail. (Rich Pope/Orlando Sentinel)
Rudy Mae Thomas, a single mother of three, worked at home as a customer service representative for an insurance company, which meant she didn’t have to pay for daycare.
But she was laid off in 2024 and then spent close to a year applying for jobs and getting no offers. Eventually, she applied for public assistance and was referred to the new program.
That helped her youngest child attend daycare, a service for which she pays just $11 a week. And, along with income, it gave her a sense of community with the other women.
“We had a lot of things in common, like life situations and stuff,” Thomas said. “It was an awesome experience. The staff and everyone was welcoming and understanding.”
Over the course of 12 weeks, she worked at a Goodwill Retail and Donation Center, receiving and pricing donations, stocking shelves and running the register. She also roleplayed job interviews, took a computer literacy class, and a financial coach advised her on ways she could get out of debt.
When she completed the program, CareerSource paid for her to attend a local nursing school, where she is studying to become a licensed practical nurse. She hopes to have her license by the end of the year.
“I was always passionate about helping people and I always wanted to be a nurse, even though I put it off for years,” Thomas said.
CareerSource has earmarked $150,000 for the new initiative, most of it to pay the salaries of the job coaches.
Goodwill pays each participant $13 an hour to work in its retail store on Orange Blossom Trail.
Crespo said the program paved a way for her to get back in the job market when she feared an old conviction from New York -– she declined to discuss it in detail -– would keep her out of the workforce.
She also got financial advice on how to build credit and help finding afterschool care for her son, now 10. In addition, the program’s coaches showed her how her public aid would decrease as her income went up, so she could be prepared for it.
“I learned a lot. There were things I didn’t know as an adult that I probably should have known. But I was so used to my parents and everyone doing things for me,” Crespo said.
After Crespo completed the program, she accepted a full-time position at the Goodwill Retail Center pricing items that come in through the donation center. She now earns $17 a week with benefits and continues to get free afterschool childcare for her son.
She no longer receives public cash assistance but does still get help with food.
“I was blessed to be there at the right time,” Crespo said. “I also work really hard, so I guess that was a plus for me.”
