Back to Work

Defeated: that’s how Elizabeth Davis was feeling.

At 51, she needed to reenter the workforce, but she was battling cancer while dealing with her mother’s dementia. On top of all that, flooding in her apartment ruined clothes and furniture.

But Elizabeth heard about our Certified Logistics Associate training, part of the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s supply chain career path program, which prepares unemployed and underemployed Cook County residents for skilled industry jobs. Elizabeth embraced the opportunity.

She completed weeks of classes on the warehousing and supply chain industries, then graduated with new skills and a new job—managing imports and exports at O’Hare Airport.

Elizabeth is grateful for the support she received through the training program.

Students receive hands-on instruction with the Food Depository’s operations team and acquire certifications to operate forklifts, trucks and other equipment.

But as Elizabeth discovered, the program provides more than just training. The Food Depository’s workforce development staff became a support system as she faced her personal struggles—connecting her to clothing donations and a furniture grant, for example, after she moved out of her water-damaged apartment.

“Anything and everything they could do for me, they tried to do for me,” she said.

When you give to the Greater Chicago Food Depository, in addition to providing healthy food for our neighbors facing hunger, you are supporting job training programs that equip people to find work that offers livable wages, benefits and opportunities for advancement.

Thank you for giving generously before August 31 so a $25,000 matching challenge can double your impact!