140 North Beeson Avenue
Uniontown, PA 15401

Phone: (724) 437-6050
Fax: (724) 437-4418
jstark@charterpa.net
www.fccaa.org

County Served: Fayette

Counties Served in Collaboration with Community Action Southwest: Greene, Washington

Incorporated: 1966

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SUCCESS STORY

In 1998, Beth Jones was 21, the mother of two daughters, and pregnant with her third child. She had no high school diploma or job skills, faced eviction from her Fayette County apartment, and was nearing the "two-year wall" for cash assistance through the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program. Life was rather grim.

Fayette County Community Action Agency (FCCAA) connected Beth with rental and energy assistance to meet her immediate needs. It enrolled her in the organization's Women, Infants, and Children program, which supplied her with the food vouchers and nutrition education she needed to provide better care for her two daughters and unborn child.

To prepare for the GED exam and gain valuable job readiness skills, Beth enrolled in the Supported Work Program - a program designed to help individuals on the welfare rolls achieve the skills need to compete in today's job market. It is funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Community Development and run by FCCAA. After only two months in the program, Beth earned her GED and found a job with a local telemarketing firm.

Since then, Beth has been promoted to supervisor, securing medical benefits for herself and her family. Now 24, she plans to start taking classes through FCCAA to train as a nurses' aide. In just 3 short years, Beth transformed her life and the prospects for her daughters, all three of them - Shanell, 10, Shantell, 5, and China, 2.