Corey Scott was working a seasonal job at Target, scrambling to pick up as many shifts as he could, when he decided it was time to go after a more steady job. Scott, who lives in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood, connected with Skills for Chicagoland’s Future, a nonprofit that matches organizations’ hiring needs with qualified job seekers who are unemployed or underemployed — and a trusted community workforce partner that has brought South Side residents to a wide range of jobs at UChicago Medicine.
“I had always heard that working for a hospital would be a good environment for me, so I took a leap of faith,” he says, when Skills set him up to interview for a position as a dishwasher at the Center for Care and Discovery (CCD). “Now I’m dealing with the public in a much more important way, and I like that the kitchen is full of life, with lots of people coming through: staff, chefs, managers, nurses.”
Scott’s job has improved life for his whole family, he reports, since he’s better able to support his two children and can spend more time with them. He envisions long-term employment at UChicago Medicine, where he looks forward to further exploring available career paths.
“My kids are happy because they get to see me more — and I’ve got one job, not multiple. I’m able to support myself and able to support them.”
And he’s not only a happy UChicago Medicine employee, he’s a happy former patient: When he ruptured his Achilles tendon playing basketball in early 2019, he had it repaired at the CCD. “It was a blessing” to have the surgery at his familiar workplace, Scott says, and to be able to come back to the job after the successful procedure.
