(Fremont County, WY) – Henry Cardoza, Jordan Black, and Jai’ron Rhodes are three Wind River Job Corps students whom County 10 met while they were recently helping build a wheelchair ramp for a local girl in Shoshoni who was left wheelchair-bound during her continuing battle with brain cancer.
In addition to community-minded projects like this that Wind River Job Corps assists with, Cardoza, Black, and Rhodes also recently found out they will be helping with the construction of the new Meta data center in Cheyenne, through WPI.
“Right now it’s in the first phase, so we’ll be doing the foundation, framing, and the skeleton of the building, the concrete,” Rhodes explained. “And the next phase will be the drywall and the installation, and we’ll be helping with the finishing touches on the building during the last phase.”
“It’s a 10-year project,” Black added.
“By the time the project is done, we’re already going to be done with our apprenticeship, and we’re going to be moving on to our journeyman after that,” Cardoza shared.
Cardoza, who hails from North Carolina, then moved to Denver and is now in Wyoming to work with the Job Corps, shared that his specialty he learned while at Job Corps is drywalling and framing, but overall, he feels he is a “fairly well-rounded” worker. “Maybe I’ll dabble a little bit into roofing,” Cardoaza added.
Black, born and raised in southern Utah, also has an interest in framing, as well as any tasks given to her during the finishing touches of a project. She said she also “wants to get her hands dirty” with concrete work.
“I like to learn as much as I can,” Jai’ron Rhodes, born and raised on the Wind River Reservation, commented. “Right now I’m also really interested in framing, the finishing touches, and making furniture.”
County 10 then asked what the Wind River Job Corps has done for each of these students.
When Cardoza decided that he needed to settle down and get a career after working in the food service industry for years, he said Job Corps was a perfect fit.
“Honestly, I think Job Corps is a really good experience for people,” Cardoza commented. “It’s pretty much a second chance at life. I think it’s an amazing opportunity for anyone, even for people who are homeless. At Job Corps, they can find a place where they can live and learn these skills, as well as get help finding a job and transportation to the job.”
“Job Corps is a good opportunity for everyone, just like Henry said,” Jai’ron added. “If you’ve got nowhere to go or you don’t know what to do in life, it’s a good foot in the door. And if you want to change careers, eventually you’ll be able to change careers because you’ll be making good money.”
“It’s a good opportunity, you can explore a lot, learn new experiences, find better opportunities,” Black shared. “If school’s not for you, you can go to Job Corps and get hands-on experience for trades that you can then go put hard work into.”