Gina has weathered several major life-changing events throughout the years. Through it all she’s now found a new career path thanks to help from CareerForce partner Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, commonly called AEOA.
First, Gina was infected with Lyme disease and other related illnesses. This led to years of debilitating symptoms. Then their house burned down. She was divorced in 2016 and moved to another city, losing her job. Then the pandemic led to her losing another job. Throughout the last year and a half, staff at AEOA helped Gina persevere, set new goals, and move forward.
Most recently, staff at AEOA in Virginia helped Gina to start her own business as a Reiki Master Healing Practitioner with help from her employment counselor Kris O’Toole and the Dislocated Worker Program/CLIMB. Gina is helping many people heal through relaxation with Reiki and health coaching. She is so grateful to help people now more than ever with the pandemic. AEOA is helping her with support services so her business can be successful. The Dislocated Worker Program helped pay for her classes on how to run her business. She was grateful for other supportive services that helped with making it possible to continue moving forward when her finances were diminished, and bills depleted her checking account monthly.
The Financial Literacy program at AEOA offered by their Adult Education program helped to get her certified on the Word & Excel programs. The computer skills helped immensely with writing her business plan and everything to do with running the business. The Excel skills made it possible to keep track of the accounting for her business. She also has several social media accounts with a growing following of new subscribers everyday especially to her daily Reiki videos on YouTube. She is also in the process of getting her book published.
Gina called out Erin Grabanski, Kris O’Toole, and Melissa Brusacoram from the Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) and sums it all up like this: "The AEOA is a gift, and I am so grateful to be a part of it! Thank you so much!!!”
