“My enticement to the inner city kept me struggling for years with criminal activity,” says Anthony Nash, a lifelong Chicago resident. With help from LISC’s Bridges to Career Opportunities (Bridges) program, Nash got the training and support services he needed to get his life back on track and build a new career in the growing Transportation, Distribution and Logistics industry. This is just one of many success stories catalyzed by LISC’s partnership with Union Pacific Railroad.
Anthony Nash grew up on the southwest side of Chicago, right down the road from the Hawthorne Race Track. He dropped out of high school to work as a “hotwalker” for the thoroughbred racehorses at the track, and later as a groomer. He loved working with horses, and the job took him all around the Chicago area and neighboring states. But Nash says he ultimately found the illicit street activity that surrounded him too distracting. As much as he tried to resist, he eventually got involved in gangs and drugs, which led to his first incarceration at the age of 19.
For the next fifteen years, Nash was in and out of prison. Despite his efforts to study and get a job each time he was released, the cycle was hard to break.
“My enticement to the inner city kept me struggling for years with criminal activity,” says Nash. “And I was also struggling with addiction. There were times where I would make steps forward in my life, but then I’d always go back to my old ways.”
In 2004, when Nash was 34, he had begun to travel a seemingly steady path. He got clean and started working at a series of organizations that help people struggling with alcohol and related issues. He also went to school to study for a degree in mental health and substance abuse counseling. But eight years later, in 2012, addiction and crime called him back. He was sent to prison for six years. Instead of losing all hope, he decided it was the last straw.
“I got ahold of myself and figured out that I was in that predicament as a direct result of my mistakes,” says Nash. “Plus I had a praying mom who stayed on me and inspired me to change.”
He got clean again. When released from prison in 2018, Nash went to a halfway house as a condition of his parole. There, he met a representative from North Lawndale Employment Network (NLEN), an organization that serves under- and unemployed residents of the North Lawndale neighborhood in Chicago, including citizens returning from incarceration. She gave Anthony her card and he followed up.
Not long after, Nash joined NLEN’s Bridges to Career Opportunities (Bridges) program. An initiative of LISC’s Financial Opportunity Centers, Bridges connects under- and unemployed individuals with training for locally in-demand careers, while also making sure they have what they need to get through the program, such as math and reading lessons if they don’t initially meet the criteria to enter a training program, or help with transportation and child care to ensure they can attend sessions. Bridges also helps participants understand and improve their finances. LISC’s partnership with Union Pacific Railroad supports nine Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics-focused Bridges programs, including NLEN’s, in four cities across the country.
Nash wanted to make use of all the organization’s services. “I was discouraged about what had transpired over the six years I was gone, but NLEN let me be me and helped me make it back into society.”
First, Nash completed U-Turn Permitted, NLEN’s four-week job readiness training program for individuals who have a felony background. Then he earned both an OSHA 30 credential and a commercial driver’s license, which positioned him to find employment in transportation. When he learned the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) was hiring, the NLEN staff helped Anthony complete his application and prepare for the interview, which he nailed. He started his career at CTA as a Bus Service Apprentice and was soon promoted to the position of flagger, where he accompanies construction crews working on the rails and conducts the movement of the trains to ensure a safe environment for everyone. He likes this job – including the health benefits and 401K plan that come with it – but sees it as just the first step in his career journey at CTA.
“I chose to become a flag man because it’s a prerequisite for being a train operator,” says Nash. “I’m in line to go into motor school, so it’s just a matter of time before they have me in classes, which last two months, and then I can qualify to become an operator.”
When he becomes a train operator, Nash’s pay will increase by $5 an hour. After three years in that role, he would be eligible to become a supervisor.
“It feels great to be a part of a company that provides transportation for people that are doing all sorts of things to better their lives,” says Nash. “I feel I’m a part of society and can be productive. And I’m grateful to be in this type of job.”
Nash also worked with a financial coach at NLEN to develop a budget to pay off his debt, build his savings and increase his credit score (now up by almost 150 points). Nash is determined to get his finances in order – he is saving to purchase a property where he can live and set up a halfway house to work with people in recovery.
“I want to use some of my skills that I went to school for. I don’t want my [substance abuse counseling] degree to go to waste,” says Nash. “I think that I could be very effective and productive doing that. I want to be a voice for the unfortunate.”
With guidance from his financial coach, Nash has been talking to loan officers. He’s now prequalified and looking at properties for the halfway house. He feels this work is his calling, though he remains committed to climbing the ladder of opportunity at CTA at the same time.
Nash is grateful for all the support NLEN has provided to help him turn his life around. “NLEN has people on staff who care and work with you. They helped me refocus and reinvent myself. It means a lot.”
He adds that many returning citizens feel a lot anxiety and doubt while seeking employment, but organizations like NLEN are there to help. To participants going through NLEN’s programs he advises, “Look for a good outcome, because the program works if you work it, but you have to put forth the effort.”