A chance visit to PCC’s Opportunity Center introduced Evangelista Mc Intyre to a new career path
Posted by PCC Foundation
Welding student Evangelista Mc Intyre shares how career exploration and scholarships at PCC set her family on a new path:
The shipyard is a place where I feel right at home. When I look at the towering metal hull of a ship, I don’t just see a job to do. I see something I want to figure out and help build.
My dream is to become a full-time maritime welder. But a few years ago, welding wasn’t even on my radar.
I connected with PCC when I went to the Opportunity Center at 42nd Avenue one day looking for help. Honestly, I just needed cash assistance to buy groceries for myself and my four-year-old daughter, Amyra. I didn’t have a job or a vehicle, and I was really struggling.
A career specialist there got me into PCC’s Discover Manufacturing class, where I found welding. I’ve always had a fascination with building things, and I’ve worked on cars with my dad since I was 12, so it was a great fit.
I come from a family that’s always been low-income and really broken. My mom is a recovering addict, and I grew up as one of 13 kids without much support. By 16, I had dropped out of school. By 21, I was a single mom wondering how I’d ever build a stable life for me and my daughter. I escaped an unhealthy relationship, and Amyra and I crashed at my grandma’s overcrowded house.
PCC helped me build something better for us. Today, I am proud to be the first woman in my family to enter the trades. As a Latina working in a field where you don’t see a lot of women like me, I’m showing my daughter what’s possible.
My days are a hustle, balancing day and night classes with 30-hour workweeks at my job, but I’m motivated and excited about where I’m headed.
Scholarships have helped pull us out of survival mode, including an award from Lease Crutcher Lewis. I’m now happily married, and we have our own quiet apartment. I own a car that gets my daughter to school and me to class. I have people who care about my future and are helping me get there.
What began with a walk into the Opportunity Center in search of help has become an astronomical leap forward for my family.
Evangelista Mc Intyre completed a certificate in maritime welding and is continuing to work toward her associate degree in welding technology at PCC. She hopes to build a career in the shipyards after graduation.