Anderson, 34 and the mother of seven, said she has been caring for her children and those of relatives for years. She knows she has some ability, but she is eager to get training and certification for employment that could lead to a career.

“It’s going to give me a head start on what I don’t know and what I need to know,” she said.

Anderson said child-care training is particularly attractive to the many moms living in Clinton-Peabody because child care for their own children has always been a barrier to employment. The program will help participants register their younger children for child care through the state subsidy program. There’s hope they will get be able to enroll them in the child cares where they are doing their apprenticeships to reduce transportation issues, Anderson said.

A natural fit

The program is being supported by two federal grants. Last year, the St. Louis Housing Authority received a $3 million, four-year Jobs Plus grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to develop unique apprenticeship programs based out of Clinton-Peabody, one of the largest and poorest low-income housing complexes in St. Louis. That grant enabled the authority to hire community-based “coaches” like Anderson to recruit other residents for such programs as computer programming and coding.