Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in the March edition of “IFN Monthly.”
BY MIKE FUHRMAN
After working in quality assurance in a manufacturing facility and helping assemble semi-trucks for the better part of two decades, Darwin Campbell set his sights on a career change.
With his 40th birthday approaching last year, Campbell started looking for a new challenge and an opportunity to make a good living outside of a typical work environment.
I-CARE Inc. helped him make the leap, providing tuition assistance for a truck driver training program at TransTech in nearby Newton that culminated with a CDL license. For the past 10 months he’s been delivering groceries to stores throughout the Southeast for MDI, a wholesale food distributor based in Hickory.
“It’s a challenge going from working a nine-to-five job to working 11-, 12- and 13-hour days,” the Statesville native said. “But it’s also rewarding. You meet new people and see new places.”
Campbell earned his associate degree from Mitchell Community College and is a few credits shy of his bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. But without the support of I-CARE, making a career change at this stage in life would have been difficult.
“I’m forever grateful and appreciative of that,” said Campbell. “I needed a little assistance.”
Thanks to a Community Services Block Grant funded by the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Economic Opportunity, I-CARE provides tuition assistance to adults with low incomes in Iredell and Alexander counties. Assistance is available for training in phlebotomy, CNA, medical office assistant, CDL, welding, and other specialized career fields that lead to full-time employment, according to Shelton Moore, Family Support Services director for I-CARE.
I-CARE helped 27 individuals complete job training in 2020-2021, and 34 people took advantage of the program in 2021-2022. The United Way of Iredell County and the Iredell County Community Foundation also provide funding for the program.
Truck driving is a demanding job. But the instructors at TransTech helped Campbell master the art of driving a big rig, including backing up a 53-foot trailer. While the fundamentals are the same, it’s more difficult than backing up his 5-foot-by-8-foot trailer, he acknowledged.
Most of his deliveries are to stores in the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia, allowing Campbell to return home daily. But he’s had a few trips where he’s gone a day or two, and he has already logged about 75,000 miles.
The support of his wife Tameka, Campbell said, has made the transition to a new career go smoothly even as he has adjusted to long days and work-related phone calls in the middle of the night and early morning.
“I wouldn’t be where I am without her,” he said. “She’s definitely supported me on this journey.”
Now, with a little experience under his belt, Campbell is looking forward to a future that includes lots of time on the open road and ownership of his own trucking company.
“I can see myself doing the delivery part for 10 or 15 years,” he said. “I’m trying to find my niche.”
LEARN MORE
Learn more about I-CARE at https://www.icare-inc.org/