Learning and Earning
A pathway. A purpose. A future.
Katie never expected her life to pivot in a single afternoon. She had tucked away her dream of becoming a nurse in 2008, setting it aside for bills, kids and the everyday weight of adulthood. Years later, working a job that paid the bills but didn’t fulfill her, she felt the old dream tug again, quietly and persistently. Her husband nudged her to try. She applied to Western Home Communities with no healthcare experience, hoping only for a fresh start. What she found was a door she didn’t know existed.
Within months, she earned her CNA. She worked across multiple communities, discovered she loved caring for older adults and then received a message from Director of Education Krista Dreyer that changed everything: “You should apply to the LPN program.” Katie still laughs at how surreal it felt. “Next thing you know, I’m in nursing school,” she said, amazed by how quickly her life changed. Her story is not an anomaly; it’s the blueprint for a program built to meet a crisis.
Across the Cedar Valley, COVID created a shortage of healthcare workers that strained long-term care communities, families, and the broader healthcare system. Western Home Communities felt that pressure acutely. Instead of waiting for a solution, Krista Dreyer and her team created one. “Upon realizing no existing model fit the organization’s needs,” Krista said, “there’s nobody to look to for this… so we built it.”
The Learn & Earn Training Center was born of that necessity, a workforce model designed from scratch to remove barriers, develop talent from within, and give people like Katie a chance to enter healthcare without putting their lives on hold.
The impact has been immediate and measurable: CNA turnover has dropped sharply, retention has tripled and new employees report feeling more confident, capable and connected to their work. But the numbers tell only part of the story.
Krista leads with a simple yet radical belief: people stay where they feel supported. “If employees aren’t happy, invested in their work, or understand their work, they’ll leave,” she said. “But if you train them well and care about their success, they’ll stay and thrive.”
She rejects the idea that certification alone prepares someone for real-world caregiving. “Everybody needs ongoing education,” she said. “Most people don’t thrive by flying by the seat of their pants. They need structure and someone who believes in them.” Belief is the heartbeat of Learn & Earn — and students feel it immediately.
Krista even volunteers as the “human pincushion,” letting students practice blood draws and IV starts on her so they gain confidence before ever touching a resident. “Why would we not do everything we can to help someone feel comfortable with their skills?” she said. The program’s small-cohort model deepens that sense of safety. Learners from different backgrounds bond over shared stressors and goals, forming a family-like support system that carries them through school, work and life.
That support system has shaped the journeys of countless employees, including Mary Frana. She arrived at Western Home with no certifications and only a desire to try something new. Within three years, she earned her CNA and MedAid certifications and enrolled in the LPN program. She often says everything “just fell right into place,” but the program helped her discover a purpose she hadn’t realized she was missing.
Mary’s caregiving philosophy is simple and deeply human. She calls it the “grandparent standard,” always asking how she would want her own family treated. That mindset has shaped countless moments: the nonverbal resident who began speaking again after moving into her care area, and the quiet rituals of brushing hair, choosing nice clothes or offering cold water instead of warm. These small acts, repeated day after day, reveal the soul of Learn & Earn: people growing into roles where they can change lives.
Perhaps the strongest testament to Western Home’s culture is what happened when Katie faced a personal crisis. Unsure where to turn, she emailed CEO Kris Hansen. He called her during his lunch break and told her that Western Home had a plan. They supported her and her children through one of the hardest seasons of her life. “I’m a lifer here,” she said. “I would not be in a good place if it weren’t for Western Home.” This is what makes Learn & Earn different. It’s not just a training program. It’s a community that invests in people as whole human beings and fosters a culture of care for its caregivers.
Kris sees Katie’s story as a reflection of the environments he works to build. “It’s never just about the position; it’s always about the people and a culture that cares for its caregivers. That’s why we put people first,” he said. “If we can find win-wins in this situation, that’s exactly what we aim to do.”
He refuses to call employees “staff,” joking that “staff sounds like an infection,” because he deeply believes in honoring the people who make Western Home what it is. “It’s my goal to ensure our employees are truly our customers. If we take care of our customers as best we can, the ultimate customer, the resident, will be taken care of.” When asked what it means for Western Home to be a place of stability and support, Kris shared, “We certainly love that our folks trust and believe in us to help them.”
Kris believes Learn & Earn is shaping long-term stability not only for Western Home but also for the entire Cedar Valley. “The pipeline and opportunities are clear, so people know where to turn, and that ecosystem is just going to continue to build itself,” he said. It is building the future, one learner at a time.
Krista often describes the program’s long-term vision as a ripple effect. Even if someone eventually leaves Western Home, the program still succeeds by sending skilled, compassionate caregivers into the world. That ripple is already visible. Residents receive more consistent, relationship-based care. Families feel more confident entrusting their loved ones to long-term care. The Cedar Valley gains a stronger, more stable healthcare workforce. Learners build careers that lift their families and strengthen their communities.
Learn & Earn is more than a program; it’s a model for how communities can grow their own caregivers, strengthen their workforce and build a culture of dignity and compassion. Grants, donors and community champions make it possible to remove financial barriers, expand hands-on training and support learners through life’s challenges.
As Krista said, “We’re not just building better workers. We’re building better people. And that changes everything.”