Meet Tajae: a Participant in YWCA's Teacher Workforce Development Program

Oct 11

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“I didn’t have any help. I had to do everything myself, and I was so lost. What I love about this program is there are resources for me, and they take me step by step until the end to get my Child Development Associate (CDA).”

Tajae Salgado, a 29-year-old single mother, enrolled in YWCA’s Early Childhood Education Teacher Workforce Development Program in April 2017. Before enrolling in our program, Tajae tried to get her CDA on her own. She was working at a daycare and feeling overwhelmed with all there was to do.Tajae attended community college for two semesters, but as a single mother of two young children it was hard to manage everything. She wanted a program where she wouldn’t have to be sitting in class all the time reading from books. “I wanted more of a hands-on program, and that is what drew me to this program.”

Tajae is an excellent candidate for our Early Childhood Education Teacher Workforce Development Program. She thrives on learning something new every day.

When Tajae was in college, she was one student in a large auditorium filled with other students. She didn’t know her teacher or many of her classmates.At YWCA Minneapolis our training setting is much more intimate. As Tajae said: “I needed more of this close interaction and the ability to build relationships with my classmates and teachers. I have a whole support group here.”

Classroom support isn’t the only aspect of our program.

Transportation and child care can be barriers to access the training and support young women like Tajae seek.Fortunately our program helps remove those barriers by including both transportation and child care support for people like Tajae. “I love that we get the transportation stipend. They also help us with daycare. I didn’t have daycare before I started, and I’m so happy my daughter gets to be enrolled in such a high-quality program while I complete this program. I feel very lucky!”