St. Rita Program Helps Nurse Fulfill Her Passion

April’s desire to become a nurse began when she was 20 years old. A supply clerk in a nursing home, she dreamt she was holding the hand of a resident who was dying. She knew then that she had a special calling to nursing. After becoming a full-time nurse, her passion for caring for patients [...]

2022-12-14T13:33:53-06:00December 14, 2022|

Skills Mismatch — a Root Cause of Poverty

by Lauren Solidum Special to The Leaven "The strong job market isn’t benefiting all Americans," according to an article by McKinsey & Company. It illustrates a point that is incredibly necessary to understand as we navigate the modern  world. Many Americans face persistent barriers to finding a job, even as employers are struggling to fill [...]

2022-11-11T14:19:05-06:00November 11, 2022|

St. Rita Program Helps Remove Barriers to Success

The bright room is filled with excited chatter and tables of sewing machines. Lined along with the colorful fabric in the Rightfully Sewn seamstress training center walk three women—two in matching gold chiffon hijabs and their mother, who is wearing a pearl-decorated hijab. Mashuta Wak, along with her daughters Tirina and Injilla, graduated from Rightfully [...]

2022-07-05T21:43:37-05:00June 29, 2022|

Catholic Charities offers hand up through career development effort (Feature from The Leaven)

by Susan Fotovich McCabe Special to The Leaven Getting an education or learning a new skill has always been important in gaining a competitive edge in the workplace. But perhaps now, more than ever, it’s critical. The economic turbulence left in the wake of COVID-19 has resulted in staggering unemployment. Even before the pandemic, those [...]

2021-01-19T09:53:38-06:00January 19, 2021|

St. Rita Participant Sews Masks During COVID-19

Above: Liliane and her refugee apprentice sewing masks. Image from the video by Stellar Image Studios.Liliane, the woman in the video below by Stellar Image Studios, has recently started sewing masks as a way to keep her business, African Designs, running during the COVID-19 Crisis. She had just signed a lease on a new storefront [...]

2020-06-17T08:46:30-05:00June 17, 2020|

Brent’s Story — St. Rita Program Highlight

Brent, age 40, was raised on a farm in Basehor, KS. Like many hard working families, both of his parents worked full-time jobs. Growing up, Brent spent many hours with his grandparents. His grandfather was his role model, and would be instrumental to a major decision Brent would make later in life. After high [...]

2019-10-08T10:12:52-05:00September 11, 2019|

Snow Ball 2019 Program Highlight: St Rita Program

St. Rita works with Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Technical Education Center, assisting with enrollment. In addition, the participants must commit to attending sessions offered by St. Rita including intensive financial education classes. Professional skills training for job seeking, job retention and job success including full resume and application service, interview coaching and principles [...]

2020-02-27T14:54:25-06:00February 28, 2019|

Future is Bright for St. Rita Participants

Lavaunte has always been passionate about auto technology. Without the proper training, that passion unfortunately couldn’t translate into income. He needed more education, but as the youngest of five, no one in his family had ever had the option of attending college — until now. Lavaunte was among a group of six participants who participated [...]

2019-02-12T15:11:17-06:00February 12, 2019|