Geormetrius Agee couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The 25-year-old Hoover man had ambitions to go into the medical field, but the information a search engine gave him seemed unfathomable: He was looking at a web page that told him he could be on his way to working as an emergency medical technician after completing an 18-day training course.

“It was pretty cool,” Agee said. “It changed my life.”

Agee was one of the participants of the Good Jobs Challenge, a free healthcare workforce training initiative from the City of Birmingham and several regional partners.

The program is paid for through a 2022 $10 million grant made possible from the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. Good Jobs Challenge is the only program to receive the money from the grant in the state of Alabama.

The idea behind Good Jobs is simple – to provide free training, as well as assistance in securing, high-quality, in-demand healthcare jobs in Birmingham.

So far, the program has trained almost 300 people and resulted in more than 80 placed in jobs since last October. Those who finish the program have gone on to find jobs as patient care technicians, pharmacy technicians, administrative medical assistants, and found positions in clinical and non-clinical roles, said Dr. Olivia Howell of the City of Birmingham, who is attached to the program.

The training comes through a number of short-term programs offered by Jefferson and Lawson States. For some, training can last as long as 16 weeks, with some longer-term programs.

Enrollees who are eligible can also receive services, such as literacy training, childcare and assistance with transportation.

Agee, for example, majored in biology and had nursed a dream of eventually going to medical school.

“That didn’t work out,” he said. And then came his discovering Good Jobs.

Howell said the program collaborates with employers such as UAB, Children’s of Alabama, Brookwood Medical Center, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Alabama, Cooper Green Mercy, CVS and Walgreens.

Applicants can fill out the career roadmap form, which discovers their aptitudes and interests resulting in program recommendations.

“People coming through the door, we find out what their needs are, what their ambitions are, and get them with a training provider and support system,” Howell said.

Caleb Rotton, the employer alliance manager for Central Six/Alabama Works, said the majority of programs offered can be finished in a few months.

Agee said he eventually wants to become a paramedic, but he has his sights set even further on becoming an anesthesiology technician.

“Being a paramedic is the next goal, but it’s not the end goal,” he said.

A healthcare job fair is currently scheduled for Tuesday, June 10 at Boutwell Auditorium from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, visit the website. You can register here.