“Please Don’t Take Away Our Last Hope” – Chloe’s Story

Chloe Lawson is more than halfway through her training in the TCU Advanced Transportation Program at Excelsior Springs Job Corps in Missouri. But now, she and countless others are facing an uncertain future as talks of Job Corps closures threaten to bring it all to a halt.

“Before Job Corps, I had nothing,” Chloe shared. “I was 20, no car, a bad dead-end job, no stable housing, sleeping on the street some nights—and no hope for the future.”

Everything changed in May 2024 when Chloe enrolled in the Welding Trade at Collbran Job Corps in Colorado. She completed the program in just nine months, excelling quickly and earning a spot in the TCU Advanced Training Program at Excelsior Springs, where she’s been learning freight conductor skills and receiving hands-on training as a carman.

“I have been here almost 3 months and have progressed efficiently… I’ve also started working a part-time job nearby to save up for when I graduate.”

The potential shutdown of the program isn’t just a policy change—it’s a personal loss with real consequences.

“Job Corps changes lives. Without this program, the instructors, and the staff I’ve met along the way, I would still be on the street—maybe even dead.”

Chloe passionately defends the value of Job Corps for students like her:

“This isn’t like other trade schools. This is for at-risk youth, homeless, foster system survivors, those with past problems… I learned more here in a year than the two years I was out of high school.”

She pleads with decision-makers to remember what Job Corps truly means:

“Please don’t break the promise we were given… the promise that our past doesn’t define us… We are putting in the work. Please, I beg you, don’t take away our last hope.”

Chloe is a Job Corps success in the making—and her story is a powerful reminder of why these programs matter.

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