Written by: Asha French, Ph.D.
At no point in its more than 100-year history, has the Louisville Urban League (LUL) professed to “save” the Black community. Its primary commitment is to collectively, and creatively adjust to the struggles that come with being a marginalized citizen of these United States. The League is here to witness what can happen when one person’s determination meets an organization’s commitment to the removal of barriers to success.
Rena McKissack, 62, is but one testimony to such a meeting. A member of the League’s Urban Seniors Job Program (USJP), Ms. Rena is a certified nursing assistant who, prior to her relationship with LUL, spent much of her adult life as a caregiver. Ms. Rena owned and ran a daycare for years. While focused on the day-to-day responsibilities of being a small business owner, she missed many of the technological advancements of the past couple of decades. “I did everything the old-fashioned way,” Ms. Rena said. “No computers! No computer skills! Just filling out papers and filing everything away. It worked for me.” Ms. Rena admits that the only time she used a computer was to listen to music–not by streaming, but by playing compact discs. She would have gone many more years using technology for music and a physical file cabinet for record keeping.
A car accident interrupted this trajectory. “I was pronounced dead four years ago,” Ms. Rena shared at a recent ceremony for USJP members. “By the grace of God, I am standing in front of you today to share my story.” The experience fractured Ms. Rena’s life into two segments: “Before Crisis” and “After Crisis.”
In the long journey toward recovery, Ms. Rena began to see the world with new eyes. “The world had changed before my eyes,” she shared. “Everything was digital and I had not changed with it.” She still needed to work and wasn’t sure how she would fit into a job market that had significantly changed during her years as a business owner.
As no person is an island, she knew she couldn’t face this new paradigm alone. A friend recommended the Urban Senior Jobs Program. For years, USJP has addressed a significant need in the community, where retirement-aged adults were often still shouldering the financial responsibilities of family without the cushion of hefty retirement packages.
With the help of community partners, LUL offers support for seniors who are disadvantaged in an increasingly youth-focused job market. The League knows that digital literacy equals access, and Ms. Rena soon signed up for USJP’s computer program, Senior Tech. “I was scared,” she admitted. “But you don’t have time to be scared for long. The Urban League’s team is like ‘Snap, snap! Get to it!’”
Team members only echoed Ms. Rena’s internal drive as they urged her to face her fears and rise to the challenge of new technology. Soon, she went from using an old computer as a jukebox to earning certificates online. Unfortunately, a second crisis hit Ms. Rena (and the world): COVID 19.
“When COVID hit, I was in class at a host agency and immediately told to go home.” As the city and state shut down, Ms. Rena thought her new education had come to an untimely end. “I truly thought I had been put out of the program.” With so many determined seniors engaged in the program, LUL scrambled to find a way to adjust to these new circumstances. The League went digital. “The next day, I received a call from the Louisville Urban League advising me I was still in the program. But due to COVID, I could no longer be physically at the site.”
Like many of the seniors in the program, Ms. Rena was still new to technology when the world retreated to their computer screens. Knowing that personal connection was the glue that bound participants to its programs, LUL immediately set up weekly health and wellness phone calls and check-ins. They quickly transitioned to providing basic computer and digital skills training, establishing a curriculum with weekly assignments. The digital training model allowed seniors to remain in the program, and Ms. Rena soon learned how to use email, spell check, word processing, and, perhaps most importantly, Zoom. “The first time I got on Zoom was exciting!” Ms. Rena shared. “Seeing all the Urban Seniors during Covid on Zoom made me so happy!” Support with video conferencing helped seniors to avoid the isolation of the pandemic. Using Zoom and the computers donated by our partner, Spectrum, Ms. Rena even saw her cousin’s first grandbaby in Columbia, Tennessee.
Seeing her baby cousin for the first time was just one of the miracles Ms. Rena attributes to her training. “Prior to my work with the Urban League, I was afraid I would break a computer,” Ms. Rena laughed. “Now I use the computer for everything. I applied for my job on my computer.” Ms. Rena is currently a certified nursing assistant (CNA), and she studied for and passed the licensing exam online. She now works with adults with physical and mental disabilities. She applies her new skills in technology by putting her notes in the system daily after work. Furthermore, she continues her education with self-paced, digital courses.
In her B.C. (Before Crisis) years, Ms. Rena was already a boss- literally. She was self-motivated, determined to succeed, and highly detailed. The Urban Seniors Job Program only helped to build on the qualities she already possessed. Ms. Rena’s success is a testament to what can happen when a person steps into the unknown only to find a ladder leaning there.
