A repeated on-the-job injury left Selia Cope unable to work in 2007. Cope had been a medical assistant since 1988, but her doctor said her body needed a new job. So, Cope enrolled at the Business Technology Center and will soon begin an internship doing clerical work for a local medical center -- she will still be able to use her knowledge of the medical field, but avoid further injury.

The Business Technology Center, or BTC, is a program sponsored by the Kings Regional Occupational Program, housed on the Hanford Adult School campus and targeted toward adults. Through classes in the BTC, students develop computer skills, math skills, communication skills and other clerical skills to enhance their career opportunities. Once students have completed most of their courses in the BTC, they have the option of enrolling in a semester-long internship program, through which they are all prepared for the workforce with an unpaid internship. On Monday, 12 students who are enrolled in this semester's internship program received haircuts, style tips and makeup tips at Medeiros Spa & Salon.

Medeiros Spa & Salon is usually closed on Mondays. But Owner/Stylist Adam Medeiros opens his shop up once a year to students of the BTC business internship program -- his staff members volunteer their time to give students makeovers for that positive first impression. Hair stylists explained on Monday each style they did to the BTC students so that they would be able to do it on their own when it came time for an interview or first day on the job.

"We make a lot of money in this business and we want to give back to the community," Medeiros said, as he created an updo for BTC student Elaine Salazar. "The better you look, the better you feel about yourself. And the better you feel about yourself, the better the job that you're going to do."

Zona Hoggard, instructor for the BTC business internship program, said that all of her students have experienced hardships, lack of confidence and lack of resources to gain employment. But through businesses like Medeiros Spa & Salon, and agencies like the Community Clothes Closet, Corcoran Emergency Aid and Welfare to Work, these students have a better shot at the workforce.

Upon completion of the BTC and the internship program, about 60 percent of students are hired, Hoggard said.

Maria Evangelista, a BTC and business internship student who was introduced to the program through Welfare to Work, is nearing completion of the program and will begin on Sept. 29 a clerical internship with Central Valley General Hospital or Hanford Community Medical Center. Eventually, Evangelista would like to become a registered nurse, but until then, she is excited about where she is at, because it was not an easy road getting there.

Evangelista, 23, spent 2007 weeding cotton with her husband in Corcoran. Evangelista, her husband and her four children, had to downsize to one income when she chose to enroll in the BTC in January. That move forced the family onto a tight budget that resulted in Evangelista's van getting repossessed. So, she took the Amtrak up to Hanford everyday, and walked in the January cold to Hanford Adult School for her BTC classes.

But a lot has changed for Evangelista in the last nine months. She has gone from a daily outfit consisting of jeans, a t-shirt and her husband's tennis shoes, to professional office attire donated to her by Corcoran Emergency Aid. Her income tax returns allowed for the purchase of a car. And her children are being cared for at no cost to her through the anti-poverty Headstart program.

"I have gone from being just Maria to being somebody," Evangelista said.

Students can still enroll for next semester, which starts in January, by calling 589-7026.

The reporter can be reached at 584-2424.

(Sept. 23, 2008)