FVTC relieving women’s worries

From thenorthwestern.com: “FVTC relieving women’s worries” — At 24, Cassie Behrend of Oshkosh is the single mother of a 5-year-old son. Nineteen weeks into a high-risk pregnancy she lost her job as a certified nursing assistant.

“I can’t lift, push or pull,” Behrend said.

Unfortunately, the duties of a CNA include plenty of lifting, pushing and pulling.

And now, her employer is telling her she may not be eligible for unemployment benefits.

She has stress to spare.

Behrend has faced numerous hardships in her life, including a brutal rape back when she first started college. It led her to the brink of suicide, she said.

She had not learned good coping skills as a child. Back then, her way of coping with stress was to not talk about it.

Today, she is older and wiser.

She doesn’t worry about false modesty when seeking help from food pantries, thrift stores and other social agencies to help her make her way and to provide for her child. She has looked for and found ways to fill her physical, emotional and spiritual needs.

“God never gives me something I can’t handle,” Behrend said.

She has worked since the age of 15. If she finds a source to help her over a rough spot, she will accept it.

One recent gem Behrend stumbled upon came from Fox Valley Technical College, where she is enrolled studying to become an occupational therapy assistant with hopes of one day working with disabled children.