Nineska Saez is willing to try anything. That’s how she flipped a home at age 19 and how she landed at the LCCAA Produce Center.

Assigned to the center by OhioMeansJobs’ youth workforce program, Nineska assists with sorting, packing, loading and unloading food boxes at the center which provides a drive-through pick up by appointment.

“I enjoy getting to help people and how excited they are,” she said. “They thank us and bless us.”

Born in Puerto Rico, Nineska and her family emigrated to the mainland U.S. in 2017 after hurricane Maria devasted the island. In 2018, she moved to Lorain and in 2020 graduated high school carrying her son Elijah across the stage with her.

“I’m always looking to better myself,” she said. “My goal is to become someone. I just want to give my son the things my parents couldn’t give me.

In 2021, using COVID-related stimulus funds, Nineska bought a house in Lorain. With some help from her father, who had built homes in Puerto Rico, she remodeled and sold the home for more than double what she paid. She was only 19.

“I’m very eager to learn anything,” she said. “I definitely have the ‘I’ll figure it out’ gene.”

With the proceeds, she bought her second home but is taking more time to fix it up little by little while raising her son and looking at longer term career options.

Nineska hopes to start classes at Lorain County Community College on their Fast Track program. She’ll begin with a certification in instrument sterilization and plans to work toward a bachelor’s degree and a career as a surgical technician.

Meanwhile, her son Elijah is thriving as a student at Hopkins-Locke Head Start.

“I just want to give my son things my parents couldn’t give me,” she said.

Learn more about the Produce Center by clicking here.