Being back in the workforce is what mattered most to Myra Jordan, a trainee worker in the billing department at Fox & Obel. Myra had been in and out of the workforce for over a decade. “I’ve been really blessed to receive this opportunity; it makes me feel better because I’m back in the workforce. I missed that,” she says. “I just love getting up every morning and going to work.”

Starting with a new dinette set and then adding living room furniture, Myra has finally been able to afford things she hasn’t been able to before now, creating a more comfortable home for herself and her family. And her new furniture was not purchased on credit, but purchased outright.

“Thanks to Put Illinois to Work... every time I look at the new furniture, I can say that this came from putting people back to work.”

Each week, Put Illinois to Work infuses an average of $9 million back into local economies and the pockets of families who need it most. 

According to research compiled by the Chief Economic Advisor to the Vice President, Jared Bernstein, Illinois counts for a full 26 percent of all subsidized job placements, making it far and away the most successful subsidized jobs program in the country” says Put Illinois to Work Director Jill Geltmaker. With the new skills and self-confidence Myra has gained working at Fox & Obel, she is more certain than ever that by Christmas she will be in an unsubsidized job. All she needed was for one employer to take a chance— Put Illinois to Work made that possible.