From Workshop Particpant to Intern!

Breia Snead and her Mom Carla Lesane participated in a Housing Matters workshop series called Growing Stronger Together in January of 2015. The series worked with mother and daughter pairs to set goals for budgets and savings, taught communication and listening skills and put training into practice with a cooking and healthy lifestyle session. It was the cooking class that featured an interview with both women in the Frederick News Post.

Fast forward 18 months and Breia began working as an intern with Frederick County Workforce Services and was placed at IHA. Her wages are paid through a county grant which also provided training in resume writing and interviewing skills. At age 15, she is learning office basics like scanning, copying, filing and customer service skills including answering the phones. She also made a site visit to Natelli Manor apartments with property manager Vivian Duran to learn about how IHA provides affordable housing.

This is not the first time Breia and her Mom have taken advantages of programs and classes suggested by Ann Ryan, the director of Project Alive at the Housing Authority. They participate in the community garden program at Lucas Village and grow their own vegetables and have taken cooking classes. It was a natural fit they signed up for Growing Stronger Together.

Incoming Board member Tom Ryan was pleasantly caught off guard seeing Breia working at the front desk when he stopped into the IHA office. He hadn’t seen her since she was a student in his social studies class at TJ Middle School.

We are honored to have had Breia as our intern this summer – and hope her connection with IHA continues!

To see the full story in the Frederick News Post: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/social_issues/program-in-lucas-village-partners-mothers-and-daughters-to-learn/article_8c414291-4a91-5b2e-928b-47c7027a89f6.html