DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Civic leadership and healthcare workforce development come together each summer through the Jerry J. Dawson Civic Leadership Institute's Residential Certified Nursing Assistant program.

Founded in 2020, the Jerry J. Dawson Civic Leadership Institute (DCLI) was created to connect students with civic-focused careers. According to DCLI leadership, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide social justice movement in 2020, the organization expanded its focus to two critical career paths: public safety and healthcare.

Since launching its residential CNA program in 2021, DCLI has provided dozens of high school students and recent graduates, ages 16 to 18, with the opportunity to become certified nursing assistants. This summer marks another milestone as the program transitions from a six-week curriculum to an accelerated four-week format while moving into a new home at Decatur Memorial Hospital's campus.

The program is funded through United Way of Decatur & Mid-Illinois and partners with Decatur Memorial Hospital, where students live and complete clinical rotations, as well as Rotalbly's Nursing Institute, which provides classroom instruction.

Over five years, the program has grown from seven participants in its inaugural class to more than 80 certified nursing assistants entering the local workforce.

"It's providing those opportunities for our students, which is amazing," said Eternity Jeffro, DCLI program navigator and a graduate of the 2022 residential CNA program.

Jeffery has experienced the program from nearly every perspective. She first entered the residential program as a shy student looking for an opportunity to break into healthcare. Today, she serves as both coordinator and mentor for the newest cohorts.

"I came in as a very shy girl who didn't want to talk much, who didn't want to engage," Jeffro said. "Throughout the six weeks, I grew so much. I had a lot of different connections. I came out a completely different person, and it just made me want to come back and help other students do the same."

Now overseeing students as they navigate the same experience, Jeffro said watching them grow is one of the most rewarding parts of her job.

"It has been amazing," she said. "It warms my heart just to know that I get to see them through what I went through and knowing how much it will impact them in their future in the program and beyond."

The residential component creates an experience unlike most summer programs. Students now live together inside "The Lodge" on Decatur Memorial Hospital's campus, a renovated home featuring seven bedrooms, private bathrooms, a full kitchen and shared living spaces.

Jeffro said living together helps students become more than classmates.

"They lean on one another, they go ask questions, they study with one another, they cook together, they sit at the table and eat together," she said. "We become a family very quickly."

For Imani Robinson, one of the program's graduates, the residential experience pushed her outside of her comfort zone.

"I'm not used to being away from my mom," Robinson said. "I feel like the girls got me out of my comfort zone and made me confident a little bit."

That newfound confidence extended into the hospital during clinical rotations.

"During my clinicals, I feel like it made me open up more talking to the patients and building a bond," she said.

Robinson's interest in healthcare began long before joining DCLI. She told WAND News her grandmother was in healthcare and that's where her passion for the career began. She now plans to continue her education after high school with hopes of becoming an occupational therapist.

Following in her family's footsteps, Anashja Smith found similar inspiration in her grandmother.

"At a very young age, my grandma raised me, and she was a CNA," Smith said. "Watching her come home really excited me to be a CNA and made me want to further that as I got older."

Today, Smith works in the same hospital where her grandmother spent two decades caring for patients.

After completing the program and entering the workforce, Smith said she's grown tremendously over the past year.

"When I first started being a CNA ... I barely knew anything I was doing," she said. "Now I feel like I'm good at training. I'm glad to have people with me and just glad to show everybody around."

Decatur Memorial Hospital has partnered with DCLI since the program's earliest days.

Stacey Taylor, director of professional nursing practice at the hospital, said the relationship has evolved from offering occasional shadowing opportunities into fully immersing students in patient care.

"We've gone from just having some special experiences to now immersing them in clinicals right here on our medical floor," Taylor said. "The residential CNAs live on our campus... they're part of us."

Students don't simply observe healthcare professionals. They work directly alongside experienced CNAs, learning essential patient care skills including taking vital signs, assisting with bathing patients and other day-to-day responsibilities they'll encounter after certification.

"They're actually learning how to do essential skills for healthcare," Taylor said. "When they're done, we're hoping to hire them."

Taylor said the program also helps address one of healthcare's greatest challenges: building the next generation of workers.

"We're producing well-developed young ladies and men into healthcare careers that will serve our community and our workforce," she said. "It's amazing to have this pipeline of talent from right within our city being developed."

She added that while the CNA program serves as the first step, her hope is students eventually pursue careers as nurses, occupational therapists or radiology professionals.

"The CNA course, for me, it's just a door that opens for them," Taylor said.

The program has continued expanding despite taking a one-year pause in 2025. This summer's accelerated four-week model has already produced two groups of newly certified nursing assistants.

Jeffro said the program has now helped place more than 80 CNAs back into the community, with many graduates continuing into licensed practical nursing and registered nursing programs.

She credits that success to a collaborative effort between DCLI, Rotalbly's Nursing Institute, Decatur Memorial Hospital and community partners who share a common vision of investing in local students.

"I think it's important because it gives our students the opportunity and access to careers in healthcare," Jeffro said.

For Taylor, the impact extends well beyond the classroom. She said the students are what make the program happen. She credited their drive and passion for the career to being successful students.

"I think building relationships with these young men and women and helping them bridge into healthcare is really what it's about," she said. "It's an important part of why we're involved with it."

To learn more about DCLI, click here. 

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