When Michelle Parks, Wautoma, enrolled in CAP Services’ Skills Enhancement Program, she had one son in high school and one in the military. She was the sole support of her family as she received no child support. She knew that she needed to makes some changes, as she was living from pay check to pay check and was struggling to pay her bills.

She originally planned to pursue a technical diploma in Practical Nursing, before health issues prompted her to choose Health Information Technology where she would deal more with patient healthcare information than the patients themselves.

Michelle made the Dean’s list a number of times and graduated in May 2016 with a 3.28 GPA. In October 2016, she passed the Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT) national exam for her license. She is making $6 more per hour than she was when she enrolled in the Skills program, and no longer needs public assistance as her job offers benefits.

Michelle has already begun to pay it forward. She is always willing to write support letters to funders and legislators on behalf of the Skills program; she has mentored another Health Information Technology Program student, who graduated in December 2017; and, as her job responsibilities have expanded, she has also had the honor to be a presenter in her field.