Program Gives Boston-Area Job Seekers Boost in Health-Care Sector.

Byline: Eun Lee Koh

Nov. 24--When MaryEllen Woodman started classes last January to learn basic skills in health care, she saw herself only as a van driver, and as a single mother who had been on welfare, worked as a telemarketer, and once manned the cash register at a supermarket.

Almost a year later, she says she can now envision new ways to describe herself one day: as a nursing assistant, a receptionist at a hospital, or perhaps even a radiology technician.

Woodman, along with about 180 others, was among the first group of people to graduate this fall from the first phase of the HealthcareWorks initiative, which began late last year to get underskilled, low-income, and immigrant residents of the western suburbs jobs in hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes that are seeking workers. Starting tomorrow, Woodman and others like her begin the second phase: learning how to get into schools to earn licenses in nursing and other health care fields.

"It's a career where I know I will have a future," said Woodman, who works for Employment Options in Marlborough, driving mentally ill patients to doctors' appointments and activities. "It's not a dead-end job. There's a chance to move up in life, and I can really make something of myself and help others too."