COLORADO – Across the nation, many young people find themselves concerned about their future and seeking career opportunities. Enter the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers. Administered by the Department of Labor and operated by the Forest Service, the Job Corps program operates 24 centers in 6 regions nationwide and allows young people aged 16-24 to gain skills and experience in trades like wildland firefighting, computer networking, facility maintenance, office administration and much more.

Essence Black, who was recently hired as a permanent seasonal wildland firefighter on the Buzzard Creek Fire Crew, was one of these students. While studying floor covering at the Collbran Job Corps Center, she earned her high school diploma from Grand Mesa High School (located on Collbran Job Corps Center), obtained her driver’s license and took up the role of student president. Essence was also named Most Improved Student of the Month in March 2019, Student of the Month in April 2019, and became a Gold Jacketed Leader, the top leadership position at Collbran Job Corps Center.

Essence began working as a seasonal employee on the Buzzard Creek Fire Crew in 2019, with prescribed fire assignments on the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forest and three 14-day wildfire assignments in Colorado, Idaho and California as a Firefighter Type-2 and Faller A.

Recognizing her drive and talent, Buzzard Creek Handcrew Militia Captain Brooke Bosman and Job Corps Assistant Fire Management Officer Pat Owens reached out to Essence about upcoming Forest Service jobs. Bosman worked with Essence to set up a USAJOBS.gov account, refine her resume, and work through the application process. In May 2021, Essence was hired into her current permanent seasonal wildland firefighter position on the Buzzard Creek Fire Crew, beginning what she hopes to be a long career with the Forest Service.  

“Our first Job Corps recruitment and hiring event saw three Job Corps Centers students successfully hired – we can expect more with our efforts currently underway,” said Doug Crosbie, branch chief for strategic recruitment and hiring in Forest Service Human Resources Management. “We have aligned ideal entry-level employment opportunities with candidates that include Job Corps graduates, and we work closely with Job Corps staff to ensure they prepare students to apply. This not only ensures potential return-on-investment for federally-funded vocational training at Forest Service Job Corps Centers, but can also aim in breaking what Job Corps calls “the cycle of poverty” that may hinder these students, should they have not participated in this training and worked hard to complete academic and vocational goals.”

Through this journey, Essence cited her drive to keep learning, growing and progressing. In addition to a successful career with the Forest Service, she strives to be a role model for her brothers and sisters, with the eventual goal of having her siblings move in with her and acting as their caretaker.  
Thanks to the partnerships between Human Resources Management and outstanding Job Corps leaders, Essence is poised to enjoy success with an organization steeped in the values of interdependence and commitment. Stories like Essence’s have a broader impact, in this case on people like Brooke Bosman, Pat Owens and Justin Abbey, Job Corps Fire Program field coordinator.

“Essence is an inspiring young woman, who is very humble and grateful for every opportunity that she has received. She acts selflessly and holds her family very close, and I for one feel very blessed to have been given the opportunity to meet her,” Abbey said. “These students have changed me far more than I have changed them. Essence is driven in a way that serves as a role model, breaking the chains of adversity to start something new.”