In 2022, CareerSource Northeast Florida (CareerSource NEFL) Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Manager Tammie Jackson got a surprise visit to her office at St. Johns River College in Palatka from Tamara Ellis – who thanked Jackson for the help she received through the organization back in 2007 that launched her successful nursing career.
“Tamara told me that without that funding, she would not have made it as far as she has, and how grateful she was for our help years ago that got her started,” Jackson said.
With the funding assistance she received from CareerSource NEFL through the WIOA program, Ellis was able to attend classes at First Coast Technical College in St. Augustine to attain a Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) accreditation.
“I had graduated from the University of North Florida with a bachelor’s degree in finance and health, but I couldn’t find a job,” she said. “It was a gray area for me because I had just had a child, and I wasn’t working, so I wasn’t eligible for financial aid. I really wanted to pursue nursing, working with people to help them with their healthcare needs, but I couldn’t do that with that particular degree.”
Ellis admits she didn’t know much about nursing programs, but after talking to friends, she was led to the college and eventually learned about its LPN program – but the cost made it initially out of reach.
“It was about $6,600 to go through it at the time,” she said. “It’s not a lot of money, but it’s a lot of money when you don’t have any money, right? So, somebody told me about WorkSource (renamed CareerSource Northeast Florida the following year) over at the Palatka Mall, so I decided to go check it out.”
After meeting with staff member Scott Shoaf, Ellis was surprised to find out she was eligible to receive scholarship funds to attend the classes.
“It was like manna from heaven,” Ellis said. “That’s what started it all. It covered almost everything. The only thing I had to buy were uniforms. That help sent me on my way.”
After receiving her LPN, Ellis says she immediately started working in the field, starting with night shifts at a nursing home in St. Augustine, then “bridged” to become a RN (registered nurse) in 2012 while working full-time and attending Concord Career Institute.
She moved on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) in 2016. In 2020, Ellis became an advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP).
Besides receiving tuition help and having to take out a loan to juggle working while continuing her advanced nursing education, Ellis paid for the other certifications on her own.
But at the end of the day, and especially as a single mother, Ellis says she wouldn’t have made it so far in her nursing career without the assistance she received from CareerSource NEFL in the beginning.
“Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to do all this,” she said. “That’s what jump-started it and made it pretty much smooth sailing from then on out. I came out of that LPN program debt-free, allowing me to get started working. I was able to go out, work, save some money and continue moving up.”
Ellis, who still lives in Palatka (and has commuted throughout northeast Florida throughout her career), is now visiting many other cities as a traveling nurse.
“For the past year or so, I’ve been throughout Florida, spent some time in Oregon, and I just got back from Chicago,” she said.
Looking ahead, Ellis plans to work locally for a while – proudly noting that her son Justis, now 18, is receiving his official high school diploma, along with an associate degree, from St. Johns River College at Palatka Campus this year – and eventually plans to move to central Florida.
While she doesn’t know all the ins and outs of all the help available through CareerSource NEFL, she urges those who need help to go and ask, noting some people can’t always attend a traditional school and should consider a technical school. Ellis tells them to base their life plan on where they are, starting with going to CareerSource NEFL.
“I will say, throughout all of this, Tammie (Jackson) was always there,” she said. “When I saw her out at the college, I just had to tell her thank you. I always had her as a point of contact. I’m just so grateful. I don’t know what I would have done without her as a career counselor. It’s not all about the financial help. I could always reach out to talk to her.”