After six years at Walmart, Jocelyn felt stuck. CanCode Communities helped her build the digital skills; and confidence; she needed to start moving forward again.
Jocelyn Lopez wasn’t afraid of hard work.
She had been working at Walmart for six years. She had moved up, moved back down and eventually found herself working overnight shifts.
But at 24 years old, she knew she didn’t want to keep doing the same thing.
“I felt very stuck where I was,” Jocelyn said. “I felt like I wasn’t growing at all.”
The overnight schedule had turned her life upside down. She was unhappy, frustrated and struggling with her mental health. Most importantly, she knew she wanted something more for herself.
So Jocelyn started looking for a way out.
She Was Looking Everywhere for Help
Jocelyn knew the kind of work she wanted to pursue: an office or receptionist position.
There was one problem.
The workplace had become increasingly digital, and Jocelyn didn’t feel like her skills had kept up.
“I knew I wanted to be a receptionist,” she said. “Everybody wanted to do digital things. So I had to learn how to be on top of the digital world.”
She searched for computer classes. She looked for training programs. She connected with employment support through her local library.
“I was looking everywhere for help just so I could get out of my situation,” she said.
That search eventually led her to CanCode Communities.
Jocelyn first encountered CanCode through an AI class offered at her library. After learning about the organization’s other programs, she signed up.
She began strengthening the skills she worried she was missing: computer operations, digital literacy, Google Workspace, spreadsheets and Excel.
But something else was happening at the same time.
Jocelyn was starting to believe in herself again.
“I Definitely Am Doing This Right.”
Early in the program, Jocelyn hesitated when her instructor, Delma, asked students to volunteer and share their screens.
Eventually, that changed.
One day, while the class was working in Google Slides, Jocelyn demonstrated what she had created.
And she realized: *I know how to do this.*
“This is very easy,” she remembers thinking. “This is not too hard for me.”
Then came another realization:
“I definitely am doing this right.”
Jocelyn became more willing to participate. She started showing what she knew. And the encouragement she received from Delma reinforced that growing confidence.
“She celebrated my small steps,” Jocelyn said. “She made me feel confident.”
Those small steps started adding up.
Then, Jocelyn Got the Job.
While Jocelyn was still completing the CanCode program, she landed a receptionist position with the Department of Health in Albany County.
The computer skills she had been learning weren’t theoretical anymore.
She needed them for work.
“The program gave me the computer skills and the digital literacy skills I needed to take on responsibilities that were at my job, which now I use every day,” she said.
The new position also gave Jocelyn something she had been missing: room to move forward.
She describes the job as a completely different environment and pace from her previous work. And earning more money has helped strengthen her financial stability. But the biggest change may be harder to measure.
Her confidence increased.
“Learning new skills and being supported throughout the process showed me that I’m capable of more than I thought,” Jocelyn said.
Now, instead of feeling stuck, she can see what could come next.
CanCode, she said, “helped me build a clearer vision for what I wanted to do moving forward and opened new doors and opportunities that I didn’t think were possible.”
Your Donation Can Help Someone Else Get Unstuck
Jocelyn didn’t make this change alone.
She had people helping her search for jobs. Her mom sent her opportunities. She received employment support through her library. CanCode helped strengthen her resume and provided the digital training she needed.
CanCode also provided her with a computer.
That matters to Jocelyn because she knows there are other people who want to change their circumstances but don’t have access to the technology, training or support they need to take the first step.
“Programs like CanCode don’t just teach us the skills, they remove barriers,” she said.
And that’s what she wants people considering a donation during Mohawk Valley Gives to understand.
“A donation helps the next trainee get the same chance.”
For Jocelyn, that chance meant more than learning Excel or Google Slides.
It meant leaving a job where she felt stuck.
It meant earning more money.
It meant discovering she was capable of more than she thought.
And it meant finally being able to see where she could go next.
This Mohawk Valley Gives, help CanCode Communities give the next Jocelyn the skills, technology and support to move forward.