Summary

Cara Romero joins the Senior Workforce Program. The program provides “career counseling, job listings, and similar employment-related services” (1). Throughout her 12 weeks in the program, Cara will receive “extended employment benefits” (1). Her counselor, Lissette, will give a report on her job viability at the end of the sessions.

In “Session One,” Cara introduces herself. She is from the Dominican Republic. She left her country because her husband wanted to kill her (3). She asks Lissette for “a glass of water” before beginning the session (3).

At 55, Cara never expected to be in the position she is in. She worked in a lamp factory for years. She lost her job when the factory “closed in 2007” (3). Recently, Cara received a letter saying if she did not attend La Escuelita, she would stop receiving unemployment checks. Knowing the news upset her, Cara’s neighbor, Lulú, accompanied her to the...