[caption id="" align="alignright" width="350"] andella Elston of Albany talks about how the College Connection program has helped her at the Capital South Campus Center on Tuesday, March 8, 2016 in Albany, N.Y. The educational center run by the Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region helps impoverished, minority South End residents receive training that can lead to jobs. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union)[/caption]

At 55, Randella Elston was laid off in October after 12 years from an $18-an-hour job with a construction data company when the firm was sold and her computer-based position was outsourced to the Philippines.

"It was depressing," she said. She hadn't felt that low since she arrived in Albany by train 15 years earlier from North Carolina with her young son and a single suitcase. Her marriage had broken up and she quit a social work college degree program in North Carolina in her senior year. That was after 10 years in the Air Force where she worked as a physical therapist in, of all places, the Philippines.

A parishioner at Union Missionary Baptist Church told Elston about an adult education scholarship being offered by the Capital South Campus Center across Morton Avenue on Warren Street.

She stopped by and met education coordinator Mary Edwards, a dynamo with a drill sergeant's tenacity and a preacher's heart. Edwards believes everyone deserves a second chance — even a third or fourth if needed.

"I take the person where they are and help them get to where they want to be," said Edwards, a former administrator at New Covenant Charter School. She now works with some former students as young adults looking to advance their education or improve job skills.

Elston won a scholarship to Bryant & Stratton College and will complete a certificate in medical coding in September. After she passes a rigorous test, she expects to find a job in the growing field with an hourly wage in the $18 range, with potential for advancement.

"I'm so appreciative of this center and the new opportunity it's given me. I'm blessed," said Elston, who is remarried. She juggles school with raising two children, one stepchild and two foster kids.

Elston's experience has been replicated dozens of times during the first year of classes and workforce training at the Capital South Campus Center. The $6 million, three-story, 18,000-square-foot multi-use facility was built with a $5 million HUD grant. Owned by the Albany Housing Authority and run by the Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region, it's a collaboration involving local colleges, businesses and community  groups. Located a block from the Executive Mansion on Eagle Street within sight of the gleaming towers of the Empire State Plaza, it's a beacon of hope and opportunity in a predominantly poor and African-American neighborhood of the South End.

In the last six months of 2015 at the center, 426 people completed a career advancement course and developed an individual education or employment plan. Of those, 161 completed a certificate, found a job or enrolled in college.

In addition, 81 people earned high school equivalency diplomas, 60 completed English as a Second Language courses and more than 50 children participated in an early childhood language development program called Race to 10,000 Words.

"This is only the beginning. We had a good first year, but this has the potential to be a jewel in the crown of the city," said Harris Oberlander, Trinity Alliance's CEO. "There's nothing else like it anywhere." "It's a continuous work-in-progress," said Kat Brown, development and marketing director for Trinity Alliance. She helped secure a $100,000 matching grant from the Key Bank Foundation and $50,000 from Albany County recently. "We listen to what the community needs and we respond."

As an example, a brand-new second-floor classroom is being torn out, gutted and transformed into a nanotechnology clean room with a $500,000 grant. Training for lab technician jobs will be done through a SUNY Polytechnic Institute partnership.

"They came to us because they have jobs they need to fill and we have a pipeline of eager workers," Oberlander said.

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