Thank you for your interest in our CNA Training Program!
With cases of covid-19 on the rise in West Michigan and Long Term Care Facilities taking extra precautions to keep their residents safe, our program is once again searching for a site where students can safely complete the required clinical practicum hours. Given this new challenge we have made the difficult decision to cancel the classes we had scheduled for November and December. We are also taking this time to redesign some aspects of our training program, including some changes to our curriculum and our enrollment process. As we move forward in these uncertain times, we are partnering with healthcare employers in new and different ways with a focus on ensuring each student has a clinical opportunity regardless of what happens with the pandemic. One of our new strategies is advocating for employers to hire our students prior to the start of training. This is a drastic difference from the way our program has always operated as we typically connect our students with employers near the end of their training. This change, we believe, will create more sustainable opportunities for students to complete their clinical practicum without future disruptions due to the current pandemic.
While our decision to delay training was not easy, we feel it is the right decision for our ability to best serve and train future CNAs. Our organization remains committed to “changing lives and communities through the power of work!” As a training program, we remain committed to helping you achieve your goal of becoming a CNA. We have an incredible training team full of Instructors and Career Coaches who are looking forward to meeting you and supporting you on your journey to becoming a CNA.
We truly appreciate your patience and understanding as our training program navigates these challenging situations. We are hopeful that we will have everything in place to move forward with our training in January.
When we are ready to begin enrolling students for upcoming classes those details will be available here on our website. Please check this page regularly for updates.
The Certified Nurse Aide (CNA) training course is located at the Goodwill Employment Center (3777 Sparks Dr SE) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The four-week course includes 115 hours of hands-on-training. This training includes classroom instruction as well as laboratory and clinical experience, while working with residents at a community long term care facility.
Program Highlights:
- In 2019, we trained 235 people.
- Our program has a 93% completion rate and 90% certification rate.
- 93% of our CNA students increase their income. Many graduates go from being unemployed to making between $12 and $17 per hour.
- 78% of the individuals served by our CNA program live in the neighborhoods of focus. These are unemployed and underemployed individuals who live in the areas of Kent County that have the lowest household incomes and highest number of people living in poverty.
- We host career fairs that give our graduates the opportunity to interview with 7 – 12 prominent healthcare employers.
- There is a growing need for male care givers in the healthcare field. In 2019, we trained 15 male CNAs.