Sarah

Sarah, a life-time resident of the Southside of Chicago, has over twenty-five years experience working in financial administration and patient representation at Northwestern Medicine. Over the course of her career, she began enrolling in classes towards completing her Bachelor’s Degree at Northwestern University, class by class, and was able receive her full BA in Psychology in 2017.

Her experience working in financial administration in a healthcare setting reinforced her personal passions for helping people to achieve full wellness, both physically and mentally. Her work experience, as well as experiences with close family members, propelled Sarah to pursue her degree in psychology with the goal of working as a case manager in a behavioral healthcare setting. Upon completion of her degree, Sarah still had limited networks and found that switching careers after extensive experience in one field to be difficult. After an unsuccessful year of applying on her own, a friend suggested that Sarah reach out to One On One.

With the support from her job coach, Sarah set a weekly goal to complete a minimum of twenty applications. When referring to the application process, Sarah says that’ it’s a job of its own.’ To stay motivated, Sarah set up a workstation in her house with her degree from Northwestern displayed above her desk for motivation. In addition to a consistent daily routine and an encouraging environment, Sarah shared with us how much she appreciated the weekly support and encouragement from her job coach. In addition to support in finding potential job leads, for Sarah, the support and encouragement from someone else walking alongside her in her employment journey was invaluable.

After five months of dedicated work, Sarah received her dream offer for a full time position as a case manager for an organization focused on behavioral health. Sarah is excited to continue this next season of her journey and she’s already making plans to pursue further education and complete a Master’s degree.