Living as a single parent can be isolating, and peer support is often out of reach for families in poverty. For Heather, it was eye-opening to walk into a room full of other single moms on her first day of Climb’s Intro to Skilled Trades training in Cheyenne last year.

Climb designed this first-of-its-kind training to set women up for in-demand, high-paying careers in fields like Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC), electrical, dispatch, and more. During training, participants learned to employ advanced tools used in robotics, manufacturing, automotive, aerospace, and heating and cooling systems.

“Being in an all-women learning environment helped build my confidence, especially going into a non-traditional field of work,” Heather says. “It was empowering for me to be in a room with my group all day. You learn a lot of important lessons about life.” Climb’s group structure worked well for Heather: “Climb’s staff and my group had a lot to offer that built me up.”

Today, Heather is a Fabrication Insulator at Advanced Comfort Solutions, a family-owned business in Cheyenne. She builds parts for HVAC systems like ventilation ducts, and works alongside Tina, one of her Climb classmates. Both women are working toward their journeyman’s license in HVAC trades.

“Climb’s staff and my group
had a lot to offer that built me up.”

“I want to show my children that just because you get in a rut, it doesn’t mean you can’t move forward,” Heather says. “Just because something’s hard doesn’t mean it will always be hard.”