Red Cross program has grad ceremony

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

When she realized she had the confidence and know-ledge to save her daughter from choking on a hair clip, Latisha Weaver knew she had joined the right educational program.

Weaver, 26, of Youngs-town is a graduate of the American Red Cross Nurse Assistant Training Program in Northern Ohio, which conducted a graduation ceremony Monday afternoon at the Youngstown Club in downtown Youngstown.

Weaver became one of 80 graduates in Mahoning and Trumbull counties since the program began in 1990.

The program began as a way to get individuals, largely black females and single parents, into a field where job potential was high and place them into jobs within the community.

Since its beginning, the NAT program has expanded to offer classes in Ashtabula, Lorain, Stark, Summit and Cuyahoga counties, according to a release by the Red Cross.

“We’re looking to impact the community by giving these students the health-care training they need to get a job, and in this growing field, some of the students are getting placed while they are still being trained,” said Melissa Beadle, program manager for Nurse Assistant Training.

Program funding is through a three-year, $500,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through its Health Resources and Services Administration, Beadle said.

The students go through 130 hours of training in the program, which culminates in the Ohio State Tested Nurse Assistant exam. Eighty-six percent of the graduates of the Red Cross program passed both portions of the exam, and 91 percent of those who passed gained local employment in Mahoning or Trumbull through job-placement assistance, Red Cross officials said.

U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Niles, D-17th, who spoke at the graduation ceremony, said his job was to keep programs such as NAT funded.

“It’s about giving a hand up to people in our country, not giving them a handout,” Ryan said.

The program partnered with Compass Family and Community Services of Youngstown to give the students skills such as r sum -building, time management and problem- solving.