OLT Gets Some
Spiritual Support!
September 16th 2008
On September 16th OLT received notification of some support of the heavenly type. All the way across the seas at Camp Humphries in Korea the general Protestant congregation voted to donate $2000 in designated funds to support the mission of Operation Life Transformed in reaching out to caregivers and military spouses to improve their quality of life through education and employment at no cost to the service member family.
Chaplain Klon Kitchen pastors the congregation and became familiar with the program when his family visited Texas last year. His family, like many others has endured the many moves and war deployments that are a part of military life and have also seen up close and personal with the struggles of families as they adjust to a severely wounded family member. His notification of the generous gift came with the sentiment “…..know we celebrate your ministry and work you do for all those who have paid such a price in the service to their country!”
OLT is honored to receive the support of the Chaplain program and the congregation at Camp Humphries and thanks them for their trust and support. Because of the congregations generosity one spouse or caregiver is now fully funded for their certification program. That is truly a blessing for the recipient to come!
Our six award recipients, Congratulations! Kim and Clifford!
Operation Life Transformed awards 10th NAS Lemoore scholarship
By Tamara Runzel
Golden Eagle Staff Writer
A non-profit organization that helps military spouses and caregivers hit a milestone this past weekend. ‘Operation Life Transformed’ awarded its tenth scholarship of the year. Six scholarships were awarded at the Barnes and Noble Bookfair Fundraiser and Scholarship Award ceremony in Fresno last Saturday.
Operation Life Transformed or OLT was started in February 2007. The group targets caregivers of veterans wounded in war and military spouses. The organization provides funding for online training programs and certifications for home based careers.
Two of the six scholarships were sponsored by West Hills College. The school and OLT recently started an alliance and scholarship. The chancellor of West Hills, Dr. Frank Gornick, and the Dean of Learning Resources, Susan Whitener, attended the award ceremony.
Dr. Gornick says the partnership was natural for OLT and the school since the school already has a number of students from NAS Lemoore. “We often think of the needs of the enlisted person… we don’t always necessarily remember the individuals that are at home,” Dr. Gornick says. “Today was a real good reminder seeing moms going up to get awards with kids in their arms.”
Whitener oversees the online programs at West Hills. “The opportunity to do these courses online is incredible in the way that it’s flexible for these parents and these care givers because they can do it at their leisure,” Whitener explains.
Sara Gain received a scholarship for a Microsoft Certification course. Gain is not only a military spouse, but also an ombudsman on base. She applied for the scholarship a few months ago. “I love computers and it’s going to be nice to have something to go behind my actual experience,” Gain says. “It makes me more marketable in the job force. Any kind of competitive edge you can get today, we especially need.”
Krystal Renteria’s scholarship will cover a medical coding course. Renteria says earning the certificate will help her family. “110%. It’s going to help out so much with everything, with our boys’ education, with everything,” Renteria explains.
Cheryll Sapida will also earn a certificate in medical coding with her scholarship. Sepida is already a Licensed Vocational Nurse. She has two boys at home and says it would be easier to work from home when her husband is gone. “This will add to my experience and allow me to work from home if I need to,” she says.
Angelina Roberts also received a scholarship for medical coding. Roberts learned about OLT from an article in The Golden Eagle. Roberts cried when she found out she was receiving a scholarship. “My husband is getting ready to retire soon and I’ve always said ‘You’re staying home and I’m going out to work.’ It really will help us out and I’m very grateful for everything,” Roberts says.
Cynthia Hood Martinez was the recipient of one of the scholarships sponsored by West Hills. She will take a certification course in Home Inspection. The program is nationally recognized. That means no matter what state Martinez may end up in, her certificate will be recognized.
Martinez worked as a civilian contractor with the Navy before but had to quit when her husband received orders to NAS Lemoore because there were no jobs available here. “This, I can go and it can go with me so that’s great,” Martinez says. “I’m very grateful and I am really looking forward to it. I think it’s wonderful what they’re (OLT) is doing; I really, really do.”
Shennel McGaughey received the other scholarship sponsored by West Hills. McGaughey’s scholarship is the tenth awarded by OLT. It is for a medical assistant certification program. McGaughey is not only a military spouse, but also a caregiver for her autistic son. “I’d been looking into schools… I was telling a neighbor about one of the schools out here and how expensive it is and how I can’t do it online and I’ve got my son and my daughter and she told me about this (OLT),” McGaughey says.
Operation Life Transformed co-founder Kimberly Marrero was hoping the BookFair and Scholarship ceremony would be a chance for community representatives and sponsors to see their support in action. Lynda Lahodny is the CEO of the Lemoore Chamber of Commerce. “You see the faces and you see what they’re going to do and it makes it really exciting and a very worthwhile program.”
Anne Marie Bennett is the owner of Innerglow Day Spa in Fresno. Her business is a new sponsor of Operation Life Transformed. Bennett says she was excited to see the scholarships awarded. “Thinking about the parents at home and the kids and the responsibilities and wondering and moving, it’s such a big sacrifice,” Bennett says.
Another supporter at the BookFair was Curtis Hellman. Hellman is a Work/Life Specialist at the Fleet and Family Support Center on base. “The major bases get all the focus and the attention and we are blessed with someone coming to our small base and now publicizing a program to all military spouses and awarding ten scholarships,” Hellman says.
After awarding its tenth scholarship of the year, Operation Life Transformed is now hoping to award two dozen by the end of the year. Marrero says none of it would be possible without the help of the sponsors present plus a few others including Metropolis Salon & Body Spa, Kings County United Way and Fresno Magazine.
If you are interested in checking out Operation Life Transformed, you can head to their website. It is http://lifetransformed.org. The site will guide you through the three easy steps it takes for spouses to enroll, complete the program and get a job. You can also check out the organization’s fundraisers on the site.
