A Job Is a Start. A Career Is a Future.

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Training alone is not enough. People need training plus support. That is what a wraparound model means. 

Here is something most people get wrong about Southeast Topeka.

They think the problem is that people do not work. But that is not true. Most people here are working. They show up every day. They put in the hours. And at the end of the month, the money still runs out.

Why? Because working hard is not the same as getting ahead.

In Southeast Topeka, about 72 percent of jobs pay low or moderate wages. Most of these jobs come with no benefits, no training, and no clear way to move up. A person can work full time and still not earn enough to cover rent, food, utilities and insurance in the same month.

This is why SENT Inc. invests in workforce development. Not just helping people find a job. Helping people build a career. There is a big difference. A job pays for this week. A career builds a future.

Stuck Is Not the Same as Standing Still

Look at the jobs available in the 66605 ZIP code, where SENT is based. More than a third of them, 35.4 percent, are in retail. Another 18.2 percent are in food service and hospitality. Together, those two fields make up over half of all local jobs.

These jobs matter. They keep families going. But they rarely lead anywhere. Wages stay low. Schedules change week to week. Benefits are rare. A worker can give ten years to these jobs and end up right where they started.

That is what being stuck looks like. Not lazy. Not unmotivated. Stuck. Working hard inside a system with no ladder.

Workforce development is not just about filling jobs. It is about building pathways to stability, purpose, and leadership.

The way out is not just effort. The way out is a pathway. Training that leads to a credential. A credential that leads to a better job. A better job that leads to a stable life. And support along the way, so that life does not knock a person off the path before they reach the end.

The Proof: Training Works

This is not wishful thinking. The research is strong, and the numbers are big.

One of the most carefully studied job training programs in the country followed young adults from low-income families for seven years. The result? Participants earned 30 percent more per year than people who did not get the training. That is $8,251 more every year. And the gains did not fade. Seven years later, they were still going strong. For every dollar spent on the program, society gained $2.46 back.

Another program was studied for 14 years. People who completed the training earned $54,280 more over that time than people who did not. They also had less trouble paying rent and utility bills. The training did not just raise a paycheck. It lowered stress and built stability.

Numbers like these tell us something simple and hopeful. When people get real training and real support, their lives change. And the change lasts.

So Why Doesn’t Everyone Just Sign Up?

Here is the hard part. Training programs only work if people can actually finish them. And for many people, life gets in the way.

How do you get to class if you do not have a car? Who watches your kids while you train? How do you focus on a certification exam when you are worried about an eviction notice? What if the stress and anxiety you carry every day make it hard to even start?

A 2024 federal review looked at what keeps low-wage workers from finding stable jobs. The biggest barriers were transportation, childcare, mental health, housing problems, and criminal history. The review found that people facing several barriers at once were much less likely to reach stable employment without coordinated support.

Source: Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, 2024. https://acf.gov/sites/default/files/documents/opre/OPRE-employment-processes-barriers-feb2024_Final.pdf

Cost is a wall too. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that among lower-income workers who needed training but did not get it, about 4 in 10 said they simply could not afford it.

This is the key insight behind everything SENT does. Training alone is not enough. People need training plus support. That is what a wraparound model means.

The Door Is Open, and Employers Are Waiting

Here is the other side of the story. While many neighbors are stuck in low-wage work, local employers are struggling to fill good jobs.

Across the country, 1 in 4 manufacturing workers is 55 or older. A huge wave of skilled workers is heading toward retirement. Companies need new workers, and they need them soon.

This is true right here in Shawnee County. Employers like Goodyear, Mars Wrigley, Frito-Lay, and Bimbo Bakeries need machine operators, maintenance techs, and skilled trades workers. These are stable jobs with real wages and room to grow.

At the same time, young people have stepped away from this kind of work. In 1970, 1 in 5 young workers held a manufacturing job. Today it is 1 in 12. Research shows young workers are not avoiding work. They want what anyone wants: safety, fair pay, steady schedules, and a real chance to move up.

So picture it. On one side, neighbors who want better work. On the other side, employers who need workers. What is missing in the middle is a bridge. SENT is building that bridge.

How SENT Builds the Bridge

SENT’s workforce development programs pair hands-on training with mentorship and wraparound support. Each pathway is built to meet people where they are and walk with them toward where they want to go.

Skilled Trades and Construction

This was SENT’s first workforce pathway, and it is a special one. Participants learn construction and trades skills by working on real projects, including neighborhood improvement and housing development right here in Southeast Topeka.

Think about what that means. A person learns to build while their neighborhood gets stronger. The training creates a worker and a better block at the same time. Skills go up. Homes go up. Pride goes up. Everything connects.

Community Health Worker Pathway

Healthcare is one of the fastest-growing fields in America. Community health workers help people find care, sign up for benefits, and stay healthy. It is meaningful work that pays better than most entry-level jobs and offers room to grow.

SENT’s Community Health Worker pathway trains people for these careers through certification training and hands-on experience. The program launched in partnership with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Topeka Correctional Facility, Kansas Correctional Industries, and Health Legacy and Restorative Pathways.

Part of what makes this pathway powerful is who it serves. It includes women preparing to reenter the community through a work release program. They train and earn credentials before release, so they walk out with a career path already started. Many of them have lived through the very challenges their future clients will face. Their experience becomes their strength.

This is the wraparound model in action. Training, reentry support, healthcare, and advocacy, all connected in one pathway.

Youth Workforce Pathways

Career paths should not start at 25. They should start before graduation.

Through Level Up, SENT works with high school seniors on what comes next. Career coaching. Goal setting. A real plan for college, technical training, or employment. For many students, this is the first time an adult has sat down with them and asked, what do you want your life to look like, and how do we get you there?

That question, asked at the right time by the right person, can change the whole direction of a life.

 And More on the Way

SENT is also building new pathways in apprenticeships and industry partnerships, digital skills and workplace readiness, and emerging areas like food systems, entrepreneurship, and social enterprise.

Why so many doors? Because people start from different places. A good workforce model does not force everyone through the same program. It offers multiple entry points and meets each person where they actually are.

 The Wraparound Difference

Here is what makes SENT’s approach different from a typical job training program. The training never stands alone.

Every workforce participant is connected to SENT’s full wraparound model. Neighbor Advocates walk alongside each person and help clear the barriers that stop most people:

  • Rides to training and work, because transportation should never end a career before it starts
  • Food access through the Southside Filling Station, so groceries are not the reason someone drops out
  • Mental health support, because stress and trauma are real barriers to showing up
  • Housing help, because no one can focus on a certification while facing eviction
  • Benefits navigation, so a raise does not suddenly cost a family the support they still need

Remember the research. People facing several barriers at once rarely make it through training without coordinated support. SENT provides that coordination. That is why the model works.

Transportation deserves special mention. The Urban Institute names safe, reliable, affordable transportation as one of 24 key predictors of upward mobility. A bus route can decide whether a training program is possible. That is why SENT builds transportation support directly into its workforce model instead of treating it as someone else’s problem.

When training, mentorship, and opportunity come together, individuals can move from surviving to thriving.

 The Talent Was Always Here

Neighbors in Southeast Topeka are not asking for a handout. They are asking for a fair shot. A chance to learn real skills. A mentor who believes in them. Work that pays enough to make a plan.

The talent has always been here. What was missing was the pathway. SENT is building those pathways now, one person, one program, one partnership at a time.

And every person who walks that path lifts more than themselves. They lift their kids, who see what is possible. They lift their neighborhood, which grows stronger with every stable household. They lift the whole community.

That is what workforce development means inside a wraparound model. Not just a job. A future.

 Get Involved

There is a place for you in this work.

Looking for a career pathway? senttopeka.com/education/workforce-development

An employer or organization ready to partner? senttopeka.com/partner-with-us

Want to support this work? senttopeka.com/become-a-sustaining-monthly-donor

Call or email: (785) 783-2535  |  info@senttopeka.com

 

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