Fourteen years ago, when Dedrick Jensen-Woodard married his wife, neither of them knew the changes life had in store. The plan was for Dedrick to be a stay-at-home father, taking care of his two step-children ages 3 and 7 years old. His wife was just offered a lucrative position putting her nursing skills to good use. However, that plan was short-lived when Dedrick’s wife became ill a few months later and was no longer able to work.
“I had to step a little outside of my comfort zone and change fields to do something with a better chance to support my family. I knew what I had been doing, working in retail or the restaurant business, wasn’t going to cut it,” says Dedrick. Dedrick and his family turned to DSHS for help to afford daycare, as his wife was too ill to care for the children while he worked. There he learned about the WEX program through WWEE where they taught a class on office and computer skills and then offered a three-month internship to put those skills to practice. Dedrick did his internship at MSC, managing the front desk at MSC’s Kent office and operating the shelter line.
While at MSC, he learned about the community jobs program offered through DSHS at the time. He applied and was granted another internship at MSC, this time for nine months, giving him a solid year of experience in the same job.
Dedrick also participated in a financial assistance program to help people buy their first home that was offered at MSC several years ago. Individuals learned about budgeting and saving, and for eligible participants, MSC would match their savings for a down payment for a house. Dedrick learned a lot in this program, even though he didn’t end up buying a house. “I think I was successful even though I wasn’t able to buy a house through this program. I took the education the program provided and could see that buying a house wouldn’t work for me. To take out a loan I couldn’t afford would have been disastrous, so it was a success because I had the education to know this wasn’t a good financial choice for me at the time. “
After his second internship concluded, Dedrick was offered a permanent part-time position in MSC’s housing department. He accepted and quickly moved to a full-time position in the Energy Department where for the last eleven years he has served as the schedule coordinator operating and trouble-shooting for the automated energy appointment system.
Dedrick is now Assistant MIS at MSC, which for those of us non-techies, basically means he keeps all the MSC computer hardware and software in good working order. This is a new position to him, and a new field, and he is excited to learn more and continue to advance his skills at MSC. “MSC took me where I was at and gave me that extra push in the right direction,” says Dedrick.
