When Myhanh Lopes was just 17 years old, she had to choose between working to support herself and her new baby and finishing high school. She chose her family.

After quitting high school, Lopes, 54, of Pittsburg, started a retail job where she worked for more than 30 years. But it was a demanding job and often cost her precious time with her family. So during the COVID-19 pandemic, she sought to improve her skill set and find a job with a better work-life balance.

“We had to grow up quickly and figure things out to get by,” she said of herself and her then-boyfriend, now her husband, with whom she raised three children. “I grew with the company in a sense, but I also gave up being with my little kid’s birthday parties and being unable to take them to after-school sports.”

Lopes enrolled in an Administrative Careers Training, or ACT, program with Opportunity Junction, a nonprofit that provides health care and office administration training, support, work experience and placement assistance to motivated Contra Costa County job seekers. It helps those facing personal and systemic employment barriers launch careers that lead to financial security.

“We have individualized case management and have a staff member working specifically with each individual that comes through our program,” said Alexis Bonn, vice president of development at Opportunity Junction since 2019. “So they know exactly what’s going on if they have any special circumstances at home or any additional challenges that need help.”

Opportunity Junction is hoping to raise $30,000 through the East Bay Times’ annual Share the Spirit program from November to January to continue funding its Contra Costa County residents and their families.

The funding also will support its Certified Nursing Assistant, Medical Assistant, and ACT program alumni and participants during the challenging and expensive holiday season. With the funds, Opportunity Junction will provide 50 students and in-need alumni with Thanksgiving turkeys and baskets full of necessities for a family meal, and will purchase 270 gift cards ($50 each) for students and alumni to purchase necessary goods and food for the December holiday season.

The remaining funds will support ACT participants by offering paid work experience and additional support, such as transportation subsidies, rental assistance, and help with phone or internet bills.

Bonn said one of the things that makes Opportunity Junction unique is that it looks at the whole individual, cares for them and gives them wraparound support. To help program participants make it to class, Opportunity Junction helps them pay a bill or get a bus pass if their car breaks down. If people do not have a car or transportation, Opportunity Junction provides wraparound support to each individual.

“We try to help pull those barriers back so that they can focus on the program, excelling in it and learning what they need,” Bonn said.

Because leaving the classroom as a teenager signified the abrupt end of Lopes’ childhood, returning to an instructional setting was an emotional experience that resurfaced difficult memories for her.

“It was hard because we had to have homework at night,” Lopes said. “I’m one of the older people. I’m not typing quickly enough, and we had a typing test.”

Lopes had to complete Word, Excel, PowerPoint and an essay, which she found challenging.

But Bonn said that “she always puts in the extra effort.” She said Lopes was able to use her training and pick up on the technology skills she had gained from working in retail. Now, through Opportunity Junction’s program, she could advance those to the next level to become an administrative professional.

Lopes now works for another nonprofit, SHELTER, Inc., as a program specialist, where she uses her new skills to prevent homelessness and provide shelter for veterans and their families. Her father was a veteran; she knows he would have been proud of her.

“We love to see people with the passion for nonprofit work come through,” Bonn said. “She is a great example of someone who’s come into our program and gone out into a career that she loves.”

Lopes worked so hard that she was given a paid internship as a teacher’s aide, an honor given to only one student per class. Natalie Georgia, Lopes’s former teacher in the program, remembered her as a diligent and dedicated student.

“She was dedicated to making sure that she got everything done, even though it didn’t always come easily,” Georgia said. “At the time, I was teaching the Essential Skills piece. The essential skills are tangible and intangible professional development skills that people sometimes come into the program not thinking that they need, but then at the end, understanding that they needed both pieces to be completely successful.”

Georgia said Lopes came in as most students do with a bit of apprehension, but that she was a rock star at the end of the program.

“Myhanh was always the one who was keeping up with everyone,” Georgia said. “I think a lot of that was due to her being very responsible, and so she kind of made sure that everybody was pulled in, and nobody was left behind.”

After working hard on the ACT program, Lopes obtained the Microsoft Office certification.

“I’ve learned so much about utilizing computers from this program,” Lopes said. She still comes back to Opportunity Junction to help others in the program.

“Even in her current organization, I know she’s doing exactly the same thing,” Georgia said. “She loves to share any good things she finds.”

For women in difficult circumstances or situations like hers at 17 — facing the choice between family responsibilities and personal goals — Lopes emphasized the importance of self-belief and inner strength, especially when making major life decisions like having a child.

“It’s never too late to try something out of your comfort zone,” Lopes said.

Because she had minimal computer skills before joining the ACT program, she said gaining computer skills at the end of Opportunity Junction’s program built self-confidence. She was able to assist the new ACT class as a teaching aid and help fellow students with assignments.

“You have to believe in yourself and dig and find that inner strength,” Lopes said. “Whatever your choice, go forward with that.”